The optimized integration of temperature-controlled transports into distributed sector-integrated energy systems

Abstract

A model for the electric integration of temperature-controlled transports into decentralized, sector-integrated energy systems of logistics facilities is presented herein. A method for modeling an energy systems interaction with the energy components of a refrigerated trailer (reefer) is also introduced. Furthermore, the optimized integration of all sectors was demonstrated using the open energy modeling framework (oemof). For this purpose, the electricity, heat and transport sectors of a typical logistics company’s premises are considered in the context of a case study, spanning the period of one year. Energy costs, CO2 emissions, load peaks, and PV own-consumption are used to evaluate the gradual conversion of reefer preconditioning (pre-cooling and -heating) from diesel fuel into electrical grid supply. A linear solver optimizes the energy system in terms of costs and facilitates the optimized integration of reefers and the sector-integrated energy system, incorporating load peaks and CO2 emissions. The results of the study demonstrate the great potential of reducing costs and emissions through the electrical integration of different numbers of refrigerated trailers and furthermore show the challenges and implications of this for other sectors. Based on the results of the optimization, normalized preconditioning operations were created and divided by setpoint, such as for transferability and comparability. Substituting diesel with electricity for the preconditioning of refrigerated trailers reduces costs and CO2 emissions: 0.89 € and 1.56 kgCO2 can be saved per normalized electric preconditioning process compared to diesel preconditioning, depending on the setpoint it can be more or less. This positive effect can be enhanced by making optimal use of decentralized PV. The use of battery storage increases self-consumption and reduces load peaks at the grid connection point, thus enabling the optimized integration of preconditioned temperature-controlled transports into sector-integrated energy systems. With optimized use of the battery storage and PV self-consumption, the savings compared to diesel can be increased to 1.12 € and 2.11 kgCO2 per normalized preconditioning process.