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Year 2026 · Volume 3 · Issue 3

Original Article

Aggregated Bidirectional Wireless Charging Hubs as Virtual Power Plants: Coordinated Frequency Containment Reserve Provision and Reactive Power Dispatch in Distribution Networks

Adel Elgammal1
1 Professor, Utilities and Sustainable Engineering, The University of Trinidad & Tobago UTT.

Published Online: September-December 2026

Pages: 11-32

Cite this article

↗ https://www.doi.org/10.59256/indjeee.20260303002
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Abstract

The rapid growth of electric vehicles (EVs) is creating new challenges for distribution networks, but the same batteries that increase charging demand can also provide valuable flexibility when coordinated as distributed energy resources. This paper investigates the use of aggregated bidirectional wireless charging hubs as a virtual power plant (VPP) capable of simultaneously providing frequency containment reserve (FCR), active-power balancing, and reactive-power support while preserving EV users’ mobility requirements. A coordinated control and optimization framework is developed in which multiple wireless charging hubs are aggregated at the supervisory level while local charging decisions account for vehicle availability, state of charge (SOC), departure requirements, converter limits, battery constraints, and distribution-network operating conditions. The VPP dynamically determines upward and downward FCR capacity and coordinates bidirectional vehicle-to-grid (V2G) active-power exchange with reactive-power dispatch to support both system frequency and local voltage conditions. The framework is evaluated using time-domain simulations of a modified distribution network under variations in EV availability, charging demand, renewable generation, load, and frequency disturbances. Compared with uncoordinated charging, the proposed strategy reduces peak grid demand by approximately 23.6% and improves the minimum bus-voltage magnitude from 0.941 p.u. to 0.973 p.u. During frequency disturbances, coordinated hubs provide up to 1.84 MW of aggregated FCR, reducing the maximum frequency deviation by approximately 31.7% and improving post-disturbance frequency recovery. Coordinated reactive-power dispatch further reduces network losses by approximately 12.8% while limiting voltage deviations without unnecessarily consuming the active-power flexibility reserved for FCR. Despite participation in grid-support services, more than 98% of EVs satisfy their required departure SOC, demonstrating that meaningful ancillary-service provision can be achieved without substantially compromising mobility needs. The main contribution of this work is the joint treatment of FCR provision and distribution-level reactive-power management within an aggregated bidirectional wireless-charging VPP, rather than considering charging hubs only as controllable loads or independent V2G resources. The results suggest that existing parking and charging infrastructure could evolve into distributed grid-support assets, creating additional value for charging operators and EV owners while improving the ability of distribution networks to accommodate electrified transport and renewable generation. The study is simulation-based and assumes reliable communication, accurate system measurements, and sufficient EV participation; therefore, communication delays, market uncertainty, battery aging, cybersecurity, and user participation behavior require further investigation. Future work will focus on hardware-in-the-loop validation, uncertainty-aware reserve bidding, communication-resilient control, and large-scale field deployment.

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Citations

Adel Elgammal, “Aggregated Bidirectional Wireless Charging Hubs as Virtual Power Plants: Coordinated Frequency Containment Reserve Provision and Reactive Power Dispatch in Distribution Networks”, Indian Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Volume 3, Issue 3 (September- December 2026), PP 11-32.

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Licensing

© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Fifth Dimension Research Publication.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.

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