Impact of Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy on the Long-Term Planning of an Isolated Microgrid

[EN] Isolated microgrids, such as islands, rely on fossil fuels for electricity generation and include vehicle fleets, which poses significant environmental challenges. To address this, distributed energy resources based on renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs) have been deployed in several places. However, they present operational and planning concerns. Hence, the aim of this paper is to propose a two-level microgrid problem. The first problem considers an EV charging strategy that minimizes charging costs and maximizes the renewable energy use. The second level evaluates the impact of this charging strategy on the power generation planning of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, Ecuador. This planning model is simulated in HOMER Energy. The results demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of investing in additional photovoltaic (PV) generation and in the EV charging strategy. Investing in PV and smart charging for EVs could reduce the NPC by 13.58%, but a reduction in the NPC of the EV charging strategy would result in up to 3.12%. Clairand, J.; Álvarez, C.; Rodríguez-García, J.; Escrivá-Escrivá, G. (2020). Impact of Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy on the Long-Term Planning of an Isolated Microgrid. Energies. 13(13):1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13133455 Arriaga, M., Canizares, C. A., & Kazerani, M. (2013). Renewable Energy Alternatives for Remote Communities in Northern Ontario, Canada. IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, 4(3), 661-670. doi:10.1109/tste.2012.2234154 Eras-Almeida, A. A., & Egido-Aguilera, M. A. (2019). Hybrid renewable mini-grids on non-interconnected small islands: Review of case studies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 116, 109417. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2019.109417 Mahmud, M. A. P., Huda, N., Farjana, S. H., & Lang, C. (2019). Techno-Economic Operation and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of a Solar PV-Driven Islanded Microgrid. IEEE Access, 7, 111828-111839. doi:10.1109/access.2019.2927653 Huy, P. D., Ramachandaramurthy, V. K., Yong, J. Y., Tan, K. M., & Ekanayake, J. B. (2020). Optimal placement, sizing and power factor of distributed generation: A comprehensive study spanning from the planning stage to the operation stage. Energy, 195, 117011. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2020.117011 Bahaj, A. S., & James, P. A. B. (2019). Electrical Minigrids for Development: Lessons From the Field. Proceedings of the IEEE, 107(9), 1967-1980. doi:10.1109/jproc.2019.2924594 Nikmehr, N. (2020). Distributed robust operational op