Co-optimizing power system planning and transportation logistics to supply essential loads with mobile energy storage systems

This study aims to ensure the continuity of supplying the critical loads in electrical power systems through mobile energy storage systems (ESSs) powered by renewable energy sources, and to benchmark their performance against stationary alternatives. An integrated planning framework is developed to couple the electric network with road-transport logistics, extending conventional lifecycle costing to include both electrical network infrastructure and the costs of battery mobility. To enable realistic planning and operational analysis, a multi-regional power system planning and operation model and a battery transport and logistics model is jointly formulated and solved to represent the behavior of mobile and stationary ESSs within the power system. The empirical focus is on a real-world example of northwest and western Iran, evaluating mobile photovoltaic supported ESS setups versus stationary configurations for sustaining 50–100 kW critical loads during grid outages. The assessment accounts for seasonal resource variability, deployment windows, setup times, and inverter/battery constraints across four scenarios, and complements these analyses with projections for fixed solar farms in 2030, 2040, and 2050 under rising solar penetration. Results indicate that mobile systems deliver rapid, relocatable security for critical loads, whereas stationary assets provide scalable, planned robustness over longer horizons; together, they constitute a complementary pathway to reliable, low-carbon electricity supply.