A resilience-oriented pre-positioning approach for electric vehicle routing and scheduling in coupled energy and transport sectors

High-impact low-probability (HILP) events have occurred more frequently than before and caused severe damage to conventional power systems. Energy hubs (EHs) consist of various distributed energy resources (DERs) for energy generation, conversion and storage across different sectors. The high energy integration of EH systems makes them more robust under extreme events than traditional power systems. In addition, the large penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) has been witnessed in modern energy systems due to their significant benefits in accelerating transport electrification and reducing carbon emissions. Due to the characteristics of mobility and flexibility, EVs can be utilised as mobile energy resources in coupled energy and transport sectors and shift energy between different regions via effective routing and scheduling behaviours. In this context, this paper proposes a resilient-oriented pre-positioning approach for the routing and scheduling of multiple EVs in a coupled energy-transport system, where the energy system includes multiple EHs across both electricity and heat sectors. To simulate real-world scenarios, uncertainties associated with renewable generation, load profiles, and EV commuting time as well as contingencies related to component failures are incorporated into the proposed pre-positioning approach via stochastic programming. Extensive case studies are carried out based on an EH system including three EHs and five EVs, which illustrate that EVs can coordinate with static DERs in the system and perform energy shifting between different EHs via appropriate routing and scheduling behaviours. Additionally, results demonstrate that the proposed pre-positioning approach can achieve higher resilience level and ensure the supply continuity of critical loads.