Renewables self-consumption potential in districts with high penetration of electric vehicles

Abstract The need to act on the challenges brought by climate change calls for an increasing penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) in our society’s energy supply, but such integration can be challenging. This study analyzes the impact of large numbers of smart electric vehicles (EVs) in a real urban district, using the Italian town Osimo as a case study, to determine the achievable degree of RES self-consumption and CO2 emission reductions. Osimo features a multi-energy system with electricity, natural gas, district heating, and a 23% share of non-controllable RES capacity, mostly photovoltaics. The presence of EVs is evaluated in the present conditions and in scenarios with an increasing capacity of non-controllable RES. The case study is modeled in the deterministic hourly energy systems simulation model EnergyPLAN, which for these analyses is embedded within a framework aimed at enhancing its capabilities to consider the impact of uncertainties and obtain more robust results. The results show that a 10% EV penetration with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability can eliminate the need to export electricity surplus at the current PV capacity, lowering Osimo’s CO2 emissions by 3.5%. A 30% penetration achieves the same with twice the PV capacity, reducing the emissions of 17.6%.