Power Control Optimization of an Energy Storage System in DC Electric Railways

Abstract

The “optimal” control of a stationary energy storage system in a DC electric railway network is achieved by minimizing the total energy supplied from all the related traction substations. Given a timetable and the speed profiles of all the trains in the network, this paper addresses the problem of finding an optimal charging and discharging power control of the storage system. In this paper, we model the problem as a mixed integer programming problem and show the solutions for several parameter values. We then discuss the validity of our model and estimate the advantages of the energy storage system in terms of energy saving. These processes are useful for designing and installing an energy storage system in a DC electric railway network.