Empowering Networks of E-buses for Resilient and Green mobility

The exponential growth of electric vehicles, including electric buses (e-buses), raises challenges for energy production and costs, grid capacity, and operational planning. With Luxembourg set to electrify its entire bus fleet by 2030, a coordinated strategy is essential to ensure this transition supports both sustainable mobility and energy resilience. The ENER-G project aims to develop innovative solutions for a successful transition to large-scale e-bus deployment, proposing an integration of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology with local solar energy generation and battery storage systems (BSS).
While prior research has explored V2G applications for private vehicles, their deployment in public transport remains underexplored, especially when considered alongside depot-level solar energy generation and grid-connected storage.
ENER-G addresses this gap by developing optimization models and algorithms for the V2G-enabled electric bus systems, considering local photovoltaic (PV) generation, BSS, and dynamic electricity pricing.
At the strategic level, the project will develop optimization models for long-term infrastructure planning, including decisions on fleet size, PV and V2G charging infrastructure planning, and BSS capacity. At the tactical level, it will formulate dayahead scheduling models for vehicle dispatch and charging, prioritizing cost-efficient use of renewable energy while accounting for constraints such as time-of-day energy prices and battery degradation. At the operational level, the project will develop real-time decision-support algorithms accounting for trip delays and renewable variability.
A core innovation of ENER-G is in its development of game-theoretical incentive mechanisms to align the objectives of transport and energy actors. These incentives ensure that V2G services are economically viable for bus operators while serving grid stability goals. The project will design dynamic pricing strategies and compensation schemes to incentivize the provision of ancillary grid services. These mechanisms will captures the strategic interactions between public transport operators and energy providers. The developed methodology will be validated using operational and open data with the support of ENOVOS, the leading energy player, and Sales-Lentz, the biggest private bus operator in Luxembourg.
By integrating energy and mobility domains through V2G-enabled e-bus systems, ENER-G contributes to Luxembourg’s sustainable development goals and the broader EU Green Deal. The expected outcomes include enhanced economic viability of e-buses, increased uptake of renewables, and improved coordination between energy and transport actors. The outcome will provide useful decision support tools for public transport operators in their charging infrastructure planning and fleet management. It will enhance the viability of new business and management solutions for public transport electrification by integrating and aligning the objectives of energy supply chain actors through the smart V2G, local renewable energy generation, and BSS.