Joint Command and Control Versus Integrated Energy Systems: A Comparative Analysis Based on a Quantity–Quality–Spatiotemporal Model

As modern energy systems become increasingly complex and multi-source integrated, efficient coordination between diverse energy carriers and dynamic demand is essential. This study identifies a structural parallel between integrated energy system (IES) scheduling and the weapon-target assignment (WTA) problem in joint command and control, and proposes a quantity–quality–spatiotemporal (QQST) framework to model multi-dimensional supply–demand matching. The QQST framework formulates scheduling as a coupled optimization problem integrating quantity balance, energy quality (exergy), spatial distribution, and temporal dynamics. A real-world industrial IES case, involving 60 textile enterprises and a 62 km steam network, is used for validation. The proposed model is benchmarked against a conventional mixed-integer linear programming-based scheduling approach under identical system configurations. Results show that QQST improves overall exergy efficiency by 8.4% and reduces energy quality mismatch by 18.2%, as measured by an exergy-based index. Sensitivity analysis under varying load conditions further confirms the robustness of the approach. These findings demonstrate that the QQST framework provides a structured and effective methodology for enhancing multi-dimensional coordination in complex energy systems.