Coordinated Planning of Offshore Charging Stations and Electrified Ships: A Case Study on Shanghai-Busan Maritime Route

Abstract

Despite the success of electric vehicles on land, electrification of maritime ships is challenged by the dilemma of range anxiety and cargo-carrying capacity. The longer range requires larger batteries, which inevitably eat up the precious cargo space and weight. This paper breaks new ground by proposing a coordinated planning model for offshore charging stations (OCSs) and electric ships (ESs), marking a first in this field. Strategically situated OCS can partition a long maritime route into several shorter segments, which in turn lead to smaller batteries and thus larger cargo capacities. The research analyzed the impact of maritime geographical conditions on the placement and sizing process and provided insights into the trade-offs between battery size, cargo-carrying capacity, and the cruising range of different types of electrified ships. Using real Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, we estimated the economic feasibility of the Shanghai-Busan high-traffic maritime route and conducted a sensitivity analysis on factors affecting its economic viability. The results show that installing OCS can significantly reduce the propulsion cost compared with ESs without OCS and traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) ships.