Optimal Operation of an Innovative Electric Vehicle Charging Hub directly fed by Renewables

The reduction of Green House Gases (GHGs) emissions has been the top priority of the European Union (EU) in recent times. The increase in use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) to combat climate change is viable only with the use of Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) to power them. Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, the integration of RESs into the charging infrastructure has increased in the EU. The increasing market share of EVs in various categories has called for immediate changes in the EV charging infrastructure and in the operation of charging hubs. This paper aims to present an Energy Management System (EMS) to efficiently manage an EV charging hub fed by RESs, reducing the daily costs of operation and GHG emissions. The mathematical model of the EMS is developed in Matlab as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model. The MILP-based EMS is applied to the real-world case of an innovative EV charging hub located in the Ligurian region of Italy and the results of the optimization are reported.