GreenCharge has taken us a few important steps closer to achieving one of the dreams of modern cities: a zero emission transport system based on electric vehicles running on green energy, with traffic jams and parking problems becoming things of the past. The project had addressed three main objectives, expressed as simple "slogans":
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
This means giving individuals and transport operators access to charged vehicles at the time that they want to travel. But that is not the same as charging whenever you want. The project has developed and tested smart systems that avoid charging at peak times, but still ensure that charging is complete when the vehicle is needed.
THE DELICATE BALANCE OF POWER
The use of local renewable energy sources can be a supplement to the grid, increase the share of green energy, and lower the peaks. The project has developed smart and green energy management software to implement "Energy Smart Neighbourhoods" that balance energy between sources and consumers of power (e.g. households, heating, vehicle charging). We predict future energy demands, local production and local energy storage capacities in order to optimize usage and sharing. Electric cars that are connected but not planned to be used for a while provide flexibility that is exploiting in the optimisation, and charging can be shifted to periods with low energy demands.
ELECTRIC MOTORS MAKE THE WHEELS GO ROUND ... BUT MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND
Whatever smart solutions are, they must be economically viable. Many actors are involved in the provision of smart charging management. The project has developed business models that facilitate cooperation between actors and encourage the sharing of energy resources and the sharing of electric vehicles.
The project has set up demonstrators in three pilot cities: Oslo (Norway), Bremen (Germany) and Barcelona (Spain). The demonstrators developed for cities with different mobility cultures are complementary. Together, they have experimented with smart and green energy management utilising local Renewable Energy Sources, flexible sharing of charging infrastructure, and sharing of various kinds of EVs. While the lessons learnt from the implementation of demonstrators serve developers of future charging systems, the evaluation data collected serve policymakers and urban planners.
GreenCharge has made a small step towards achieving critical European climate goals. European cities share common needs including the needs to enhance air quality, to reduce emission of greenhouse gases, to solve traffic congestion and parking problems, and to provide efficient transport services. The European goal of 100 Climate-neutral Cities by 2030 require drastic changes in transport behaviours and energy production and consumption. The European Green Deal guides a transformational change, including actions in the areas of transport, energy and behaviour changes to which GreenCharge has contributed to.
