Annual Load Profiling of Public Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Italy and Implications for the Future Power System

The widespread deployment of electric vehicles (EV) and public charging infrastructure is reshaping electricity demand patterns, posing both challenges and opportunities for future power system planning. This paper presents a comprehensive annual load profile analysis of Italian public EV charging stations using high-resolution data provided by Italian National Energy Regulator (ARERA). The study estimates national consumption levels for EV charging under current and future penetration scenarios, differentiating between public and residential charging behaviours. Using these load profiles, the impact of passenger cars EV integration on the national power system is simulated under renewable energy expansion scenarios. Results show that while EV adoption can help recover otherwise curtailed renewable energy, unmanaged residential charging significantly increases evening peak loads, straining grid operations. Conversely, public charging profiles exhibit greater temporal alignment with photovoltaic generation. These insights support the case for targeted policy and tariff interventions to guide charging behaviours toward systemfriendly patterns.