Limits of Curtailed Wind Utilization by Ferry-Borne Tourist Electric Vehicles: A Milos Island Case Study

Islands without a grid connection to the mainland should meet their energy requirements with limited local resources. On the tourist islands, curtailed wind energy is often proposed for charging the electric vehicles (EVs) that visitors bring by ferry, but this share has rarely been measured against ordered curtailment. This paper estimates its limits for the autonomous Milos system in Greece, whose operator publishes hourly curtailment set-points. Hourly operating records for 2023–2025 are combined with an open trip-level series of ferry vehicle arrivals and a cohort-based Monte Carlo model of the tourist fleet. A transport-problem ceiling and a weekly mixed-integer linear program solved under perfect foresight are evaluated for the 2025 shoulder season and the full year. At a battery electric vehicle (BEV) share of 6.2%, smart charging meets 1.6–1.8% of curtailed wind energy, against 0.4% under uncontrolled charging; at 30%, it meets 5.3–6.9%, against 1.7–1.9%, and 14–17% if every EV could charge at a controllable point. Meeting 10% requires a BEV share of 29–41% under the wind-conditional measure and at least 83% under the conservative one. A generic pumped hydro facility uses 80–100% of the curtailed energy; once it is installed, the additional diesel saving from smart charging falls by 38–57%.