A microgrid deployment framework to support drayage electrification

Joseph N.E. Lucero; Ruixiao Sun; Brandon A. Miller; Simona Onori; Vivek A. Sujan

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2025.113804

A microgrid deployment framework to support drayage electrification

Joseph N.E. Lucero
, Ruixiao Sun
, Brandon A. Miller
, Simona Onori
, Vivek A. Sujan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The electrification of heavy-duty commercial vehicles (HDCVs) is key to enhancing air quality and reducing urban air pollution, but it also imposes significant demands on an electric grid not designed for such high loads. Without complementary infrastructure, electrification may yield limited air quality improvements. This article explores the critical role of microgrids—integrating solar photovoltaics and battery storage—in supporting HDCV electrification. We present an integrated framework to identify viable microgrid sites in a given region, estimate deployment costs, and optimize power use to reduce dependence on the grid. As a case study, we apply the framework to the region around the Port of Savannah, GA, USA, demonstrating how targeted microgrid deployment can enhance grid capacity, improve energy resiliency, and support electrified freight transport.

Original language	English
Article number	113804
Journal	iScience
Volume	28
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.113804
State	Published - Nov 21 2025

Funding

This article has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this article, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( https://www.energy.gov/doe-public-access-plan ). This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office under award WBS 7.2.0.502/FWP CEVT442 , administered by Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) National Transportation Research Center . Additional support was provided through an appointment to the ORNL Graduate Research Opportunities (GRO) Program, sponsored by DOE and administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. The DOE technical management team included Patrick Walsh, Raphael Isaac, Laura Robertson, and Casey Roepke. This research used resources of the Compute and Data Environment for Science ( CADES ) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE- AC05-00OR22725 . Some of the computing for this project was performed on the Sherlock cluster. We would like to thank Stanford University and the Stanford Research Computing Center for providing computational resources and support that contributed to these research results.

Keywords

Electrical engineering
Energy policy
Engineering

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10.1016/j.isci.2025.113804

Cite this

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title = "A microgrid deployment framework to support drayage electrification",

abstract = "The electrification of heavy-duty commercial vehicles (HDCVs) is key to enhancing air quality and reducing urban air pollution, but it also imposes significant demands on an electric grid not designed for such high loads. Without complementary infrastructure, electrification may yield limited air quality improvements. This article explores the critical role of microgrids—integrating solar photovoltaics and battery storage—in supporting HDCV electrification. We present an integrated framework to identify viable microgrid sites in a given region, estimate deployment costs, and optimize power use to reduce dependence on the grid. As a case study, we apply the framework to the region around the Port of Savannah, GA, USA, demonstrating how targeted microgrid deployment can enhance grid capacity, improve energy resiliency, and support electrified freight transport.",

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AB - The electrification of heavy-duty commercial vehicles (HDCVs) is key to enhancing air quality and reducing urban air pollution, but it also imposes significant demands on an electric grid not designed for such high loads. Without complementary infrastructure, electrification may yield limited air quality improvements. This article explores the critical role of microgrids—integrating solar photovoltaics and battery storage—in supporting HDCV electrification. We present an integrated framework to identify viable microgrid sites in a given region, estimate deployment costs, and optimize power use to reduce dependence on the grid. As a case study, we apply the framework to the region around the Port of Savannah, GA, USA, demonstrating how targeted microgrid deployment can enhance grid capacity, improve energy resiliency, and support electrified freight transport.

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KW - Engineering

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A microgrid deployment framework to support drayage electrification

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