Post-Disaster EV Dispatch for Powering Base Stations A MILP Approach to Maximize Spatiotemporal Coverage

Year 2025, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 39 - 49, 07.01.2026

Ramazan Kilic , Alper Kağan Candan , Ali Rıfat Boynueğri

Abstract

Disasters frequently disable the electrical grid, jeopardizing communication infrastructure and causing severe disruptions in emergency communications. Ensuring rapid deployment of power sources for base stations (BS) is therefore critical in post-disaster conditions. This study presents a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) framework that dispatches a fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) to energize multiple BSs and maximizes population-based temporal communication coverage (people × time). In a case study involving 20 BSs and 10 EVs, the optimization prioritizes early service to densely populated areas and delivers a total of 17,597 people for 228 minutes of communication access. Although served population gradually declines as EV energy depletes, the connectivity is sustained until 16:34. Results demonstrate that feasible EV–BS assignments and service durations are obtained considering BS power demand, coverage areas, and EV initial energy parameters. The proposed model enable communication availability after disasters without relying on additional fixed power resources.

Keywords

Post-disaster communication , MILP , Population-based temporal coverage , Resilience , EV fleet management , Emergency energy management

Ethical Statement

This study does not involve human participants, animals, or any sensitive data, and therefore does not require ethical approval.

Supporting Institution

No external funding was received for this study.

Project Number

None

Thanks

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Rıfat Boynueğri and Dr. Alper Kağan Candan for their valuable guidance, constructive feedback, and continuous support throughout the development of this study.

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