Multi-timescale coordination of maritime terminal operations and coastal electric-hydrogen energy systems

Decarbonizing maritime shipping and coastal hubs requires deep coordination between vessel handling operations and continuous multi-energy scheduling. However, under the influence of coastal marine meteorological fluctuations and heterogeneous energy equipment characteristics, maritime terminals face a critical decision-making disconnection between vessel-service logistics and energy systems across time scales. Therefore, this study proposes an integrated multi-timescale optimization framework that jointly coordinates berth allocation, container-handling equipment planning, and electric-hydrogen energy system (EHES) scheduling under uncertain coastal conditions. First, a three-layer decision-making framework is established. It comprises day-ahead, intra-day, and real-time stages and aims to mitigate the impact of coastal renewable energy forecast errors on system operations. Second, a mixed-integer linear programming model is developed to minimize economic costs. The model links vessel berthing plans to onshore power demand and optimizes the operations of energy equipment to enhance the coordination between maritime logistics and EHES. Third, a hierarchical rolling coordination strategy is designed to address the multi-timescale problem. Results show that EHES coordination preserves uninterrupted port operations during equipment outages, with cost increases limited to 7.2%–14.2% relative to the baseline. Under market-based tariffs, intra-day rescheduling reduces costs by 18.5% compared with the day-ahead schedule. The findings support decision making in port energy management.