Location Analysis Charger Network Optimisation for Enabling Electrification of Inland Waterways

Kurzfassung

Battery electric propulsion represents a highly promising avenue for the defossilisation of inland waterway (IWW) transport. However, to electrify the sector, substantial investments in new propulsion systems and also the charging infrastructure are necessary. It is therefore vital to guide investment decisions during the initial build up phase to ensure optimal use of resources. This work thus develops a holistic approach for planning a charging network for a fleet of IWW vessels using both a multi criteria decision making approach in a geographical information system (GIS) and mixed integer programming. A case study is performed using AIS data to calculate energy demands of a fleet of 1800 IWW vessels travelling on a subsection of the IWW network in North-Rhine Westphalia. The developed methods are employed to optimise a charging network for the study area. Moreover, a multi-objective optimisation is conducted to analyse the effect of onboard battery sizes on the charging network. A Pareto front is calculated to illustrate the trade-offs between increasing the vessels battery capacity and expanding charging network density, supporting balanced decision-making by revealing optimal solutions that align with differing strategic priorities.