DC trolleygrids as sustainable, multi-functional, and multi-stakeholder electrical infrastructures

Abstract

Electricity grids are increasingly congested as the world moves toward a sustainable, electrified future. Expanding and upgrading these infrastructures is costly and challenging on a technical and administrative level and even redundant when considering that some sub-parts of these grids, such as electric transportation networks, are massively underutilized. This thesis investigates, in four parts, the potential of one of these high-power infrastructures, the trolleybus grid, to become a sustainable, multi-functional, and multi-stakeholder backbone to urban power grids by integrating renewables, storage, and EV chargers, all while remaining ready for their next generation of sophisticated, high-power transport fleets such as In-Motion-Charging buses...