Sizing analysis and economic feasibility evaluations of offshore floating electric vessel charging stations for sustainable development

As the marine transportation sector gradually transitions towards sustainable electrified solutions, the significance of charging solutions has been receiving considerable attention. The study is a compendium covering the viability, analysis, and sizing of floating charging stations (FCS) for electric vessels, in offshore locations, including the North Sea, Europe, and the Arabian Sea, India. The comprehensive investigation used real-time renewable energy data to determine the optimal sizing of offshore charging stations. MATLAB simulations using Genetic Algorithm and the Interior-Point Fmincon algorithm optimized the FCS system for minimum life cycle cost with loss of power supply probability as a reliability criterion to evaluate the sizing analysis. The economic assessment produced a levelized cost of energy of 10.74 INR/kWh and a payback period of 5.1 years for the North Sea FCS and 12.92 INR/kWh and 6.2 years for the Arabian Sea FCS. Economic factors like net present value and profitability index as well as the sensitivity analysis with respect to discount rates confirmed the FCS project's feasibility at the selected locations. The study lays the groundwork for future research on offshore charging stations for the deployment of electric vessel transit services. • Floating offshore charging enables sustainable electric marine transport. • Economic feasibility and optimal sizing of offshore floating charging stations. • Assessment of North Sea and Arabian Sea locations with renewable energy data. • Sizing optimized by minimizing total life cycle cost under reliability limits. • Viability evaluated using levelized cost of energy, net present value and payback time.