Modeling demand flexibility in electrified supply chains: optimizing manufacturing and transport under carbon pricing
Abstract
This study presents a novel framework for leveraging temporal slack in end-to-end electrified logistics systems to enable medium- to long-duration load flexibility. We formulate a coordinated optimization of energy-intensive manufacturing and freight transport within an electricity-dominant logistics network and evaluate it using a regional case study of clinker-based material distribution in the Eastern United States. The synchronized electrification of transport and production processes can facilitate multi-gigawatt-hour temporal load shifting aligned with stochastic wind power availability over timescales exceeding one week. This capability arises under relatively low marginal carbon pricing (below $50 per metric ton CO 2 ), while stationary energy storage remains economically unattractive. Parametric analyses show that the magnitude and nature of achievable flexibility are highly sensitive to system configuration. Under low-capital-cost truck scenarios, flexibility is predominantly transport-driven, whereas constrained vehicle investment shifts the flexibility locus toward manufacturing-buffer capacity. These findings highlight the pivotal role of electric freight vehicle cost structures in shaping the dynamic flexibility potential of electrified logistics systems.