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Synergic Integration of Electric Vehicles, Renewable Energy, and Storage Systems into Smart Grids

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2025 | Viewed by 1248

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Interests: electric vehicles; smart charging; photovoltaic systems; battery energy storage systems; energy management systems; eV load and pV forecasting

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Energy systems are experiencing an evolution towards new planning and management paradigms, among which the integration of energy networks is poised to be a pivotal factor in securing a sustainable energy future and facilitating urban development. Within this framework, electric vehicles (EVs) play a significant role in promoting sustainable mobility. The transition from internal combustion engines to electric propulsion makes it possible for a significant portion of transportation energy, traditionally sourced from fossil fuels, to be generated from renewables such as solar and wind power. Furthermore, the energy for EV charging could also be generated at a local level through distributed power plants, such as photovoltaic systems, reducing the dependence on external sources and increasing the system’s self-consumption. However, replacing conventional vehicles with EVs would increase peak demand, forcing a relevant rethinking of the generation and distribution system. A similar concern is caused by the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources (RESs), whose power generation strongly depends on the availability of the primary source and cannot usually provide the control and regulation services that conventional sources can. Intermittent power injection together with localized EV charging peaks might even lead to the nonoptimal utilization of conventional plannable power sources for grid-supporting operation. Since conventional generation methods are fossil-fuel-reliant, this phenomenon contrasts with the green policy that characterizes RES and EV development. To address these challenges and avoid costly measures, a crucial imperative is the synergic integration of EVs, RESs, and storage systems for the evolution of future smart grids.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome and research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Forecasting methods for EV charging demand and RES power generation;
  • Sizing methods of PV + storage systems to support charging hub power demand;
  • Energy management systems (EMSs) for efficient monitoring and control of power flows at EV charging hubs with photovoltaic sources and storage systems;
  • Smart charging and vehicle-to-X (V2X) techniques for EV integration into smart grids;
  • Tariff options and regulatory frameworks to foster demand-side management and self-dispatching operations;
  • Provision of power network emergency services from microgrids, including intentional and dynamic islanding, black start, counterfeeding, and grid-forming capabilities.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Mattia Ricco
Dr. Francesco Lo Franco
Prof. Dr. Juan C. Vasquez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • electric vehicles
  • renewable sources
  • energy management systems
  • smart charging
  • storage systems
  • smart grid
  • energy community

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 9405 KiB  
Article
Energy Management System and Control of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in a Grid-Connected Microgrid
by Muhammad Roaid, Tayyab Ashfaq, Sidra Mumtaz, Fahad R. Albogamy, Saghir Ahmad and Basharat Ullah
Sustainability 2024, 16(20), 9122; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16209122 - 21 Oct 2024
Viewed by 814
Abstract
In the complex environment of microgrid deployments targeted at geographic regions, the seamless integration of renewable energy sources meets a variety of essential challenges. These include the unpredictable nature of renewable energy, characterized by intermittent energy generation, as well as ongoing fluctuations in [...] Read more.
In the complex environment of microgrid deployments targeted at geographic regions, the seamless integration of renewable energy sources meets a variety of essential challenges. These include the unpredictable nature of renewable energy, characterized by intermittent energy generation, as well as ongoing fluctuations in load demand, the vulnerabilities present in distribution network failures, and the unpredictability that results from unfavorable weather conditions. These unexpected events work together to disturb the delicate balance between energy supply and demand, raising the alarming threat of system instability and, in the worst cases, the sudden advent of damaging blackouts. To address this issue, a fuzzy logic-based energy management system has been developed to monitor, manage, and optimize energy consumption in microgrids. This study focuses on the control of diesel generators and utility grids in a grid-connected microgrid which manages and evaluates numerous energy consumption and distribution features within a specified system, e.g., building or a microgrid. An energy management system is suggested based on fuzzy logic as a swift fix for complications with effective and competent resource management, and its presentation is compared with both the grid-connected and off-grid modes of the microgrid. In the end, the results exhibit that the proposed controller outclasses the predictable controllers in dropping sudden variations that arise during the addition of sources of renewable energy, supporting the refurbishment of the constant system. Full article
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