The widespread adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources represents one of the key pillars of the energy transition, while also introducing new challenges in the management of electricity demand and grid loads. In this context, a study published in Energy Conversion and Management—one of the leading international scientific journals in the energy field—presents an innovative digital solution for the smart management of electric vehicle fleet charging powered by renewable energy.
The article is authored by Alberto Varone, Guido Porruvecchio and Alessandro Romanino, researchers from the Digital Technologies sector of CRS4, and introduces IREM (Intelligent Renewable Energy Management), a software platform designed to optimize energy flows within microgrids characterized by renewable energy production and variable loads.
A digital platform for the design and real-time control of complex microgrids
The activities of the IREM – Intelligent Renewable Energy Management working group focus on the development of a platform capable of operating flexibly both in the design phase and in the real-time control of complex energy microgrids. These microgrids may include electric and gaseous energy generation systems, energy storage systems, and consumption units characterized by different levels of demand priority and urgency.
The platform, developed internally at CRS4, is based on a microservice architecture called CMC – CRS4 Microservice Core, integrated with a dedicated Internet of Things microservice (CMC-IoT). This architecture enables near real-time monitoring and control of all microgrid components, overcoming the typical limitations of proprietary systems and facilitating the integration of heterogeneous devices.
The primary objective of IREM is to maximize the self-consumption of renewable energy sources within the microgrid, while minimizing energy exchanges with the external grid. In this context, particular emphasis is placed on the optimized use of electric vehicle fleet charging infrastructures, which are treated not merely as loads to be served, but as flexible energy resources.
Electric vehicle batteries are therefore managed as deferrable loads, whose charging can be modulated or postponed according to the availability of locally generated renewable energy. In selected scenarios, these batteries can also actively contribute to the energy balance of the microgrid through Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) operating modes.
A tangible contribution to the energy transition
The study highlights how digital technologies, when applied to energy management, can deliver effective solutions that are already suitable for real-world deployment. The work carried out at CRS4 demonstrates that the combination of algorithms, IoT technologies, and advanced energy management systems can make electric mobility not only more environmentally sustainable, but also more efficient and economically advantageous.
The research was carried out with the financial support of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, within the framework of the POR FESR Sardegna 2014–2020 Regional Operational Programme.
For further details, the full article published in Energy Conversion and Management is available at:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196890425014815
