Toward net-zero interconnected microgrids: coordinated use of mobile battery energy storage to balance surplus energy and carbon emissions

The growing penetration of renewable energy in distributed systems demands smarter energy management strategies, especially in sectors like agriculture where supply and demand vary both spatially and temporally. While BESS are highly beneficial in enhancing energy reliability and reducing emissions, their stationary nature limits flexibility, often leading to the loss of surplus energy. This study proposes a novel optimization framework for the coordinated deployment of Mobile Battery Energy Storage Systems (MBESS) across two connected MGs (commercial and residential), aimed at reducing renewable energy curtailment, grid import dependency, and associated CO2 emissions. An optimized operational framework for a MBESS integrated with interconnected microgrids using a shared BESS is proposed. The proposed system enables flexible energy transfer, surplus management, and reduced reliance on the main grid through a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) approach. The model considers spatio-temporal constraints, and transportation energy costs, ensuring realistic and applicable results. Simulation outcomes indicate that while the addition of MBESS introduces a modest increase in operational cost (approximately 2.7%), it significantly reduces grid energy imports by 22%, surplus energy wastage by 65%, and CO2 emissions by 13%. These results underscore the effectiveness of mobile storage in enhancing energy autonomy and environmental sustainability in decentralized renewable systems.