A simulation-based method for analyzing energy demands in container terminals under different arrival interval of ships

Abstract

The contribution of this paper is to provide a simulation-based method to analyze the highly dynamic energy demands in container terminals under different arrival interval of ships. In order to overcome the complicated and stochastic operation processes in container terminals and obtain the energy demands at each time step, a simulation model is established. Then, various simulation models based on a container terminal in Northeast China are developed and carried out to study the impact of arrival interval of ships on energy demands. Finally, the energy demands in the container terminal are obtained and analyzed after running the simulation models. The results indicate that the energy demands represent a high randomness and large variations. When arrival interval changes from 5 h to 10 h, there is a sharp fall in the daily average energy demands, while as arrival interval changes from 15 h to 20 h, the daily average energy demands mainly concentrate between 0 MW and 1 MW. The obtained results and proposed method can provide references for power department policy making and balancing energy supply and demand in container terminals.