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Growing numbers of plug-in electric vehicles in Europe will have an increasing impact on the electricity system. Using the agent-based simulation model PowerACE for ten electricity markets in Central Europe, we analyze how different charging strategies impact price levels and production- as well as consumption-based carbon emissions in France and Germany. The applied smart charging strategies consider spot market prices and/or real-time production from renewable energy sources. While total European carbon emissions do not change significantly in response to the charging strategy due to the comparatively small energy consumption of the electric vehicle fleet, our results show that all smart charging strategies reduce price levels on the spot market and lower total curtailment of renewables. Here, charging processes optimized according to hourly prices have the strongest effect. Furthermore, smart charging strategies reduce electricity purchasing costs for aggregators by about 10% compared to uncontrolled charging. In addition, the strategies allow aggregators to communicate near-zero allocated emissions for charging vehicles. An aggregator’s charging strategy expanding classic electricity cost minimization by limiting total national PEV demand to 10% of available electricity production from renewable energy sources leads to the most favorable results in both metrics, purchasing costs and allocated emissions. Finally, aggregators and plug-in electric vehicle owners would benefit from the availability of national, real-time Guarantees of Origin and the respective scarcity signals for renewable production.

Growing numbers of plug-in electric vehicles in Europe will have an increasing impact on the electricity system. Using the agent-based simulation model PowerACE for ten electricity markets in Central Europe, we analyze how different charging strategies impact price levels and production- as well as consumption-based carbon emissions in France and Germany. The applied smart charging strategies consider spot market prices and/or real-time production from renewable energy sources. While total European carbon emissions do not change significantly in response to the charging strategy due to the comparatively small energy consumption of the electric vehicle fleet, our results show that all smart charging strategies reduce price levels on the spot market and lower total curtailment of renewables. Here, charging processes optimized according to hourly prices have the strongest effect. Furthermore, smart charging strategies reduce electricity purchasing costs for aggregators by about 10% compared to uncontrolled charging. In addition, the strategies allow aggregators to communicate near-zero allocated emissions for charging vehicles. An aggregator’s charging strategy expanding classic electricity cost minimization by limiting total national PEV demand to 10% of available electricity production from renewable energy sources leads to the most favorable results in both metrics, purchasing costs and allocated emissions. Finally, aggregators and plug-in electric vehicle owners would benefit from the availability of national, real-time Guarantees of Origin and the respective scarcity signals for renewable production.

France wants to become carbon-neutral by 2050. Renewable energies and nuclear power are expected to make the main contribution to this goal. However, the average age of nuclear power plants is approaching 37 years of operation in 2022, which is likely to lead to increased outages and expensive maintenance. In addition, newer nuclear power plants are flexible to operate and thus compatible with high volatile feed-in from renewables. Nevertheless, it is controversially discussed whether nuclear power plants can still be operated competitively and whether new investments will be made in this technology. Using an agent-based simulation model of the European electricity market, the market impacts of possible nuclear investments are investigated based on two scenarios: a scenario with state-based investments and a scenario with market-based investments. The results of this investigation show that under our assumptions, even with state-based investments, carbon neutrality would not be achieved with the estimated nuclear power plant capacity. Under purely market-based assumptions, large amounts of gas-fired power plants would be installed, which would lead to an increase in France's carbon emissions. State-based investments in nuclear power plants, however, would have a dampening effect on neighboring spot market prices of up to 4.5 % on average.

France wants to become carbon-neutral by 2050. Renewable energies and nuclear power are expected to make the main contribution to this goal. However, the average age of nuclear power plants is approaching 37 years of operation in 2022, which is likely to lead to increased outages and expensive maintenance. In addition, newer nuclear power plants are flexible to operate and thus compatible with high volatile feed-in from renewables. Nevertheless, it is controversially discussed whether nuclear power plants can still be operated competitively and whether new investments will be made in this technology. Using an agent-based simulation model of the European electricity market, the market impacts of possible nuclear investments are investigated based on two scenarios: a scenario with state-based investments and a scenario with market-based investments. The results of this investigation show that under our assumptions, even with state-based investments, carbon neutrality would not be achieved with the estimated nuclear power plant capacity. Under purely market-based assumptions, large amounts of gas-fired power plants would be installed, which would lead to an increase in France's carbon emissions. State-based investments in nuclear power plants, however, would have a dampening effect on neighboring spot market prices of up to 4.5 % on average.