GCN-Transformer-Based Spatio-Temporal Load Forecasting for EV Battery Swapping Stations under Differential Couplings

To address the challenge of power absorption in grids with high renewable energy integration, electric vehicle battery swapping stations (EVBSSs) serve as critically important flexible resources. Current research on load forecasting for EVBSSs primarily employs Transformer models, which have increasingly shown a lack of adaptability to the rapid growth in scale and complexity. This paper proposes a novel data-driven forecasting model that combines the geographical feature extraction capability of graph convolutional networks (GCNs) with the multitask learning capability of Transformers. The GCN-Transformer model first leverages Spearman’s rank correlation to create a multinode feature set encompassing date, weather, and historical load data. It then employs data-adaptive graph generation for dynamic spatio-temporal graph construction and graph convolutional layers for spatial aggregation tailored to each node. Unique swapping patterns are identified through node-adaptive parameter learning, while the temporal dynamics of multidimensional features are managed by the Transformer’s components. Numerical results demonstrate enhanced accuracy and efficiency in load forecasting for multiple and widely distributed EVBSSs.