Techno-Economic Analysis of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems Designed for Electric Vehicle Charging: A Case Study from the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The United Arab Emirates is moving towards the use of renewable energy for many reasons, including the country’s high energy consumption, unstable oil prices, and increasing carbon dioxide emissions. The usage of electric vehicles can improve public health and reduce emissions that contribute to climate change. Thus, the usage of renewable energy resources to meet the demands of electric vehicles is the major challenge influencing the development of an optimal smart system that can satisfy energy requirements, enhance sustainability and reduce negative environmental impacts. The objective of this study was to examine different configurations of hybrid renewable energy systems for electric vehicle charging in Abu Dhabi city, UAE. A comprehensive study was conducted to investigate previous electric vehicle charging approaches and formulate the problem accordingly. Subsequently, methods for acquiring data with respect to the energy input and load profiles were determined, and a techno-economic analysis was performed using Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) software. The results demonstrated that the optimal electric vehicle charging model comprising solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, batteries and a distribution grid was superior to the other studied configurations from the technical, economic and environmental perspectives. An optimal model could produce excess electricity of 22,006 kWh/year with an energy cost of 0.06743 USD/kWh. Furthermore, the proposed battery–grid–solar photovoltaics–wind turbine system had the highest renewable penetration and thus reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 384 tons/year. The results also indicated that the carbon credits associated with this system could result in savings of 8786.8 USD/year. This study provides new guidelines and identifies the best indicators for electric vehicle charging systems that will positively influence the trend in carbon dioxide emissions and achieve sustainable electricity generation. This study also provides a valid financial assessment for investors looking to encourage the use of renewable energy.

A Novel Doubly-Green Stand-Alone Electric Vehicle Charging Station in Saudi Arabia: An Overview and a Comprehensive Feasibility Study

“…It is ascertained that the optimal system could generate annual surplus electricity of 22,006 kWh with a COE of about $0.06743/kWh. The analysis in [54] also reveals the environmental benefit of the proposed model. Muna and Kuo [55] investigate the techno-economic and environmental analysis of EVCSs using hybrid energy systems with various storage device technologies in three different locations in Ethiopia.…”

“…Their results indicate that an electric CS is only viable when the acquisition cost is maintained at the lowest to return 1.47 times the initial investment with regard to the life-cycle cost. The study in [54] assesses different systems of REbased HES for EV charging in the capital city of the UAE.…”

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Bolster the Energy Sector in Smart Cities: A Literature Review

“…These publications involve authors from a variety of countries, the most prominent nationalities being China (38), India (20), Canada (12), the UK (12), Saudi Arabia (11), Iran (10), South Korea (10), the USA (10), Spain (9), and Japan (7). Additionally, when considering the number of citations received by articles originating from different countries, the leading nations are as follows: USA (423), China (127), South Korea (71), Romania (66), Turkey (36), India (29), South Africa (25), the United Kingdom (18), Qatar (14), and Bulgaria (6).…”

The Propensity to Adopt Electric Vehicles in the United Arab Emirates: An Analysis of Economic and Geographic Factors

“…This encompasses a spectrum of measures that have been adopted in the UAE, including but not limited to fiscal incentives, financial subsidies, regulatory standards, and infrastructural investments (Benny, 2023) [4]. AlHammadi et al ( 2021) [17] demonstrated that the implementation of technological solutions incorporating efficient EV charging stations leads to a reduction in the cost associated with charging a vehicle. The UAE's deployment of state-of-the-art charging infrastructure seamlessly integrates advanced technologies and operational efficiencies as strategies to enhance the economic feasibility and convenience of EV adoption.…”