Optimization of the design of photovoltaic-based seaport microgrids considering techno-economic and environmental criteria

Regulations will soon require seaports to provide Cold Ironing (CI) for ships at berth to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Implementing CI usually involves the design of a renewable -based seaport microgrid. In this article, we propose a methodology for optimizing size and energy management of seaport microgrids, including CI, to minimize costs and CO 2 emissions. The methodology is applied to design the seaport microgrid of Martinique island. Novel contributions of this work are the use of solely linear programming for optimization, the load curve determination of single container ships at berth, and the consideration of a microgrid including storage in an island seaport. The results of the case study highlight that the microgrid would significantly reduce CO 2 emissions (up to 1.58 times) but may lead to higher costs compared to the current design where ship diesel generators are used. However, in future years, it should be noted that the current design will become prohibited in most ports due to stricter environmental regulations. Results also provide a comprehensive overview of three microgrid designs, each representing a distinct compromise between economic and environmental considerations while satisfying the power demand of the ships at berth and of the quayside loads. In particular, the least carbonemitting solution maximizes the PV surface area at 10,600 m 2 . The storage capacity is set at 9.5 MWh. These components represent 7 and 2% of the life -cycle CO 2 emissions respectively. The remaining CO 2 emissions are due to the electricity imported from the main grid of Martinique. Even though the proposed methodology has been applied to a specific case study in this work, it is generic and transferrable to other cases and can serve as a valuable tool for port authorities.