Balancing Airport Grid Load: The Role of Smart EV Charging, Solar, and Batteries

As the aviation industry works to reduce carbon emissions, airport energy optimization has also been brought into focus. This study explores strategies to reduce peak electricity demand at a major Swedish airport driven by increased electric vehicle charging (EV). EV charging increases grid load, but integrating solar power and battery storage helps stabilize fluctuations and reduce peaks. We present a framework and simulate the combined impact of these factors, demonstrating that smart scheduling with solar and battery systems effectively balances the load. This approach reduces high-load occurrences from 8.6 % to 2.5 %—where 100 % would mean exceeding the threshold year-round-even with 500 additional charging points.