Management of flexible EV load to integrate variable renewable energy

Decarbonising the transport sector requires transitioning to EVs and charging those EVs with electricity generated from renewable sources. And here lies an important synergy: increasing the use of EVs makes it easier to integrate more renewables into the electricity grid. In the short term, EVs can absorb excess renewable power and avoid curtailment during hours of high generation; later, they can feed back renewable energy into homes or the grid with bidirectional charging. In the long run, increases in EVs will add flexibility, which will make it possible to integrate more renewables into the power system.

Harnessing the synergies between EVs and renewable energy will allow system operators to smoothly integrate both the growing numbers of EVs on the grid and the necessary increases in renewable generation share in the energy mix, significantly reducing the use of fossil fuel–fired peaking power plants and accelerating the energy transition.