Operations Research 2025
Abstract Submission

234. Energy Management in Hubs for Circularity using a Modular Network Representation

Invited abstract in session WC-3: Energy planning and policy, stream Energy and Sustainability.

Wednesday, 13:30-15:00
Room: H5

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Tobias Løvebakke
Industrial Engineering and Business Information Systems, University of Twente
2. Daniela Guericke
Department of Industrial Engineering and Business Information Systems, University of Twente
3. Alessio Trivella
Industrial Engineering and Business Information Systems, University of Twente
4. Devrim Murat Yazan
Department of Industrial Engineering and Business Information Systems, University of Twente

Abstract

With the Clean Industrial Deal, the EU aims to increase its competitiveness while decarbonising its industrial sector. The EU has identified improving the efficient use of clean energy and integrating circularity into industrial processes as key measures. Hubs for Circularity (H4C) represent integrated systems that combine these strategies to enhance circular resource efficiency within a region. H4C benefit from the geographic proximity between different industries within industrial zones and the surrounding urban/rural areas allowing them to share resources, technology, and infrastructure and to operate under the principles of circular economy.
Energy plays a significant role in H4C since the involved industries are often energy intensive. In this study, we investigate the operational synergies between energy supply and resource-sharing enabled by industrial-urban-rural symbiosis. To this end, we develop a stochastic, modular energy management model tailored for H4Cs. The model represents the hub as a network of nodes and arcs, where processes at each node convert incoming energy and resource flows into outputs, guided by modular process definitions. These modules capture operational characteristics such as ramping constraints, storage behaviour, and co-generation of resources. This structure makes the model applicable for analysing a variety of hub configurations with different technologies, while also accounting for uncertainties such as fluctuations in renewable energy production.
By applying the model to a real life case study from the project “Sustainable Circular Economy Transition: From Industrial Symbiosis to Hubs for Circularity (IS2H4C)”, we demonstrate how energy management in H4C support industrial-urban-rural symbiosis taking place within a hub.

Keywords

Status: accepted

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