Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse and evaluate the economical, energetic and environmental impacts of the increasing penetration of renewable energies an d electrical vehicles in isolated systems, such as Terceira Island in Azores and Madeira Island . Given the fact that the islands are extremely depen dent on the importation of fossil fuels - not only for the prod uction of energy, but also for the transportation's sector - it's int ended to analyse how it is possible to reduce that dependency and de termine the resultant reduction of pollutant gas emissions. Different settings have been analysed - with and wi thout the penetration of EVs. The Terceira Island is an interesting case study, where EVs charging during off-peak hours could allow an increase in geothermal power, limited by the valley of power demand. The percentage of renewable energy in the electric power mix could reach the 74% in 2030 while at the same time, it is possible to reduce the emissions of pollutant ga ses in 45% and the purchase of fossil fuels in 44%. In Madeira , apart from wind, solar and small hydro power, there are not so many endogenous resources and the Island's emission factor cannot be so reduced as in Terceira . Although, it is possible to reduce fossil fuels imports and emissions in 1.8% in 2030 when compared with a BAU scenario with a 14% of the LD fleet composed by EVs.