TECHNO-ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF ELECTRIFIED ROAD IN LAEM CHABANG PORT, THAILAND

Abstract

Increased awareness of decarbonization and high fuel prices have induced a need for a wider deployment of alternative energy sources. Battery-powered electric trucks using an electrified road system offer a promising solution. This paper aims to evaluate the fuel consumption and environmental benefits of a 6 km road in Laem Chabang Port, Thailand, with a prototype system based on conductive charging from below. Battery capacity penetrations were designed for 1258 trucks traveling on weekdays. The annual electricity demand reached 1.608 TWh, and the flexible demand reached 1.65 TWh. The input was Thailand's standard electricity, with one 50 kVA power substation per 0.0016 km² and a 22 kV/400-230 V voltage system. Penetration required a capacity of 525 kWh. The findings indicate that fuel consumption was 592.43 TWh, and CO₂ emissions were 51.63 MtCO₂ annually. The electrified road system was evaluated with time series, fixed-effect, and tobit regressions. The time series analysis revealed that CO₂ emissions would be nearly zero by 2060, with an annual 4% increase in Laem Chabang's gross domestic product. A fixed-effect analysis signified the findings with Thailand's recent potential, whereas the tobit regression represented the influence of possible changes. These regressions demonstrated that variations in revenue, oil resources, openness to the sea, and political stability significantly affected CO₂ emissions, although there was no change in the implementation of the electrified road system.