E-mobility charging sites. Assessment of power system impacts, consumption patterns and feasibility aspects to explore a new business opportunity.

Abstract: Electrification of energy demand is seen as one of the key elements of energy transition toward decarbonisation. E-mobility is one main side of the electrification process, and it is considered as a crucial way to reduce the emissions of the transport sector. A core element for a widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is the deployment of the charging infrastructure, and installing a microgrid can the best way to integrate a charging site in the main power grid. The research project has being developed in collaboration with Volvo Penta to support the exploration of this new business opportunity. For the possible stakeholders the knowledge gap concerns the economic feasibility of charging sites/microgrids, and also which data and information are needed to properly assess it. The present research project has then the objective to gather and analyse information and data to deliver a semi quantitative assessment of different alternative charging site/microgrid configurations, to evaluate which could be the most economically viable and under which conditions. Three research questions (RQ) focused the work toward the aim of the study: 1) which are the main impacts and implications for the power system? 2) Which can be some potential consumption patterns? 3) Which are the main technical, economic, regulatory feasibility aspects? A mixed research method was adopted: qualitative, with a thorough literature review and a number of interviews, for all the three RQs; and quantitative, performing a levelised cost of energy (LCOE) comparative analysis for different cases, for the third RQ. The work finds that e-mobility can entail a number of issues for the power system, but they will become relevant only when a higher degree of penetration will be reached, when it will also become important to provide some solutions to cope with them. A common assumption, also adopted in the present research, for the assessment of potential charging profiles is that, at least at the beginning, the use patterns of EVs will be in line with use of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The work also concludes that although today the main feasibility problems for charging sties/microgrid are still related to the costs of the involved technologies, in the mid-long term the need to update the regulation and the adoption of new business models could be the main hurdles. The LCOE calculations show how the results vary substantially according to the configuration, but in general the economics are not yet favourable for microgrids in the considered cases. In the best case the LCOE for the microgrid configurations is 1.2 times higher than the one for the grid dependent solutions, while in the worse cases they are more than 10 times higher. The detailed comparative analysis illustrates the cost compositions in the different cases. Further research should be conducted in particular regarding the feasibility aspects. Different elements can radically change these results, such as possible needed grid upgrades or the evolution electricity tariffs. Possible investors and researches should bear in mind those aspects related to the charging sites when delving into e-mobility. In the future specific business cases will need to be assessed by Volvo Penta in order to get more exact results and insights.