The offshore wind energy sector requires efficient logistics to retrieve generated electricity using maritime mobile energy storage systems. This study addresses the maritime mobile energy storage scheduling problem to maximise the total net energy delivered to the onshore grid. The proposed approach utilises a mixed-integer linear programming framework. The mathematical formulation integrates a replicated port node mechanism to plan multi-trip operations over a continuous planning horizon. Additionally, the model accounts for energy transfer loss coefficients and incorporates a speed discretisation strategy to balance propulsion consumption against retrieved electricity. Numerical experiments based on simulated operational scenarios demonstrate the effectiveness of this method. The results indicate that expanding vessel storage capacity from 500 to 600 megawatt-hours eliminates the necessity for multi-stop trips, thereby reducing propulsion energy consumption from 270.79 to 73.65 megawatt-hours. Furthermore, increasing the fleet size from five to six vessels enables the full retrieval of available offshore electricity while decreasing fleet propulsion consumption to 91.08 megawatt-hours. The solver consistently achieves optimal solutions within an average of 0.88 s. Consequently, this framework provides operators with precise decision support for determining fleet capacity and configuring offshore energy retrieval networks.
Shu et al. (2026) studied this question.