Can electric vehicle charging be carbon neutral? Uniting smart charging and renewables

Will, Christian; Zimmermann, Florian; Ensslen, Axel; Fraunholz, Christoph; Jochem, Patrick; Keles, Dogan · 2024 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123549

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Summary

This study investigates whether electric vehicle (EV) charging can achieve carbon neutrality by integrating smart charging strategies with renewable energy sources. Motivated by the growing impact of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) on European electricity systems and the need to decarbonize transport, the authors analyze how different charging behaviors affect spot market prices, renewable curtailment, and carbon emissions. The research specifically addresses whether aggregators can justify claims of carbon neutrality for PEV charging and how real-time coupling of renewable supply and demand influences system-wide emissions in France and Germany. The authors employ an agent-based simulation model called PowerACE to simulate ten interconnected electricity markets in Central Europe from 2015 to 2030. The model includes individual agents for generation companies, aggregated renewable energy sources, and PEV fleets. Four charging strategies are evaluated: uncontrolled charging, cost-minimizing charging based on spot market prices, cost-minimizing charging limited to renewable availability, and a strategy maximizing renewable usage regardless of cost. The simulation calculates hourly bidding, market clearing, and dispatch, while tracking production-based and consumption-based CO2 emissions. The analysis focuses on France and Germany due to their similar PEV adoption rates but distinct power plant portfolios. Results indicate that while total European carbon emissions remain largely unchanged due to the relatively small energy share of the EV fleet, all smart charging strategies reduce spot market prices and lower the total curtailment of renewable energy. Charging optimized according to hourly prices yields the strongest price reduction effects. Smart charging reduces electricity purchasing costs for aggregators by approximately 10% compared to uncontrolled charging. Furthermore, these strategies enable aggregators to communicate near-zero allocated emissions for charging vehicles. The most favorable outcomes for both purchasing costs and allocated emissions are achieved when aggregators limit total national PEV demand to 10% of available real-time renewable electricity production. The study concludes that smart charging significantly benefits the power system by reducing prices and renewable curtailment, while allowing for near-zero emission claims for EV charging. However, achieving true carbon neutrality requires transparent, real-time data on renewable production. The authors recommend the implementation of national, real-time Guarantees of Origin and scarcity signals to facilitate the effective coupling of renewable supply and flexible EV demand, thereby supporting broader decarbonization goals in the transport sector.

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