Profitable Investment in PV and BES Integrated with EV Charging Stations in Croatia - Myth or Reality?

The increasing number of electric vehicles (EVs) poses a challenge to the power system operation and manage-ment. To deal with the growing consumption together with the uncertainty related to the time of arrival at the charging station and EV state of energy, the paper investigates the profitability of investment in different low-carbon (LC) technologies in the EV charging stations based on real-EV-data optimization. The model considers several real-life charging points in Croatia at different location (high-way, parking lot in the capital city and parking lot at the sea-side). Analyses show that the investment in PV and BES is profitable under current retail market options resulting in 3% to 70% cost reduction wit different LC technology options, while recently introduced EV charging reimbursement shortens the period of investment in LC technology for 8 years.