Development of a generation dispatch algorithm for small and medium hydropower plants supplying EV charging stations considering transmission line losses

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel power dispatch method for small and medium hydropower plants supplying energy to electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, explicitly considering transmission power losses. Unlike conventional approaches where losses are treated iteratively or approximated, the proposed method integrates loss components directly into the dispatch formulation via source-dependent loss coefficients. This enables an accurate representation of the impact of transmission distance and line characteristics on each generation unit. Although several studies have considered transmission losses in economic dispatch problems, limited attention has been given to deriving explicit analytical solutions for distributed hydropower systems supplying EV charging stations. This research gap motivates the development of the proposed loss-aware power allocation method. A key contribution of this work is the development of an explicit solution that determines generator outputs without relying on complex iterative algorithms, thereby significantly improving computational efficiency. The method is validated using Matlab/Simulink simulations with a 24-hour time-varying load profile. Results show high accuracy and stable performance, with generation units having lower loss coefficients being preferentially dispatched. The findings demonstrate that the proposed approach not only reduces computation time but also enhances the physical realism of the dispatch model, making it suitable for practical applications in distributed hydropower systems integrated with EV charging infrastructure.