Optimization Scheduling Strategy for Coal Railway Integrated Energy Systems

This paper proposes an optimal scheduling strategy for coal-dedicated railway integrated energy systems, leveraging coordinated electric boiler and thermal storage operation to enhance economic efficiency, improve wind power integration, and reduce carbon emissions. By decoupling the traditional “heat-led-electricity” constraint of combined heat and power (CHP) units, the approach increases operational flexibility and wind power accommodation capacity. A demand response model further optimizes demand-side dispatchability, while a tiered carbon trading mechanism systematically addresses emission costs. The resulting day-ahead scheduling model minimizes total costs—including electricity procurement, wind curtailment penalties, carbon trading, and maintenance expenses—demonstrating superior performance in case studies: a 12.5% reduction in carbon emissions, 56.8% lower operating costs versus conventional methods, and full (100%) wind power utilization.