Inland waterway transport (IWT) is increasingly recognized as a cleaner, more efficient alternative to road transport for freight movement. However, the successful adoption of zero-emission fuelsparticularly hydrogen and battery power-depends on the strategic location and capacity of bunkering and charging stations. This extended abstract presents a multi-stage framework that combines simulation and mixed-integer optimization to identify where and how these stations should be deployed. First, a simulation model estimates the fuel consumption of vessels under varied waterway conditions, vessel dimensions, and hydrodynamic influences. Next, an optimization module, modeled within the supply chain, aims to minimize capital and operating expenses while ensuring sufficient fuel availability. Strategically placing multi-fuel stations in high-demand locations reduces infrastructure redundancy and ensures flexible operations. This study underlines the critical role of well-planned bunkering infrastructures and highlights the potential for future expansions in zeroemission vessel networks.

A key challenge in the energy transition for Inland Water Transport is the functional design of bunker networks and first-order dimensioning of individual bunker stations. A fundamental ingredient for this is an improved understanding of how upstream energy supply (‘well-to-bunker-station’) and downstream demand (‘bunker-station-to-tank’) may interconnect. In this paper we discuss an approach to the design of bunkering networks that takes logistic modelling to estimate network scale energy demand as a starting point. Depending on the vessels that use the network and the anticipated fuel mix for the overall fleet, logistical modelling may be used to estimate the magnitude of the energy demand along the network. Estimates of the operational range of vessels per energy carrier help to estimate maximum bunker station inter-distances. Insight into the potential supply chains that connect the source of each energy carrier to a physical bunker facility is needed to close the loop. Energy carriers may be needed on board in a gaseous or liquid form, or in the form of electrons. Transfer may take place in the form of loading (e.g., filling the fuel tank, charging the battery pack) or swapping (e.g., exchanging fuel containers, exchanging battery containers). Depending on the energy carrier, transfer method(s) and demand quantities, functional designs of bunker stations (in terms of required system elements and their order-of-magnitude dimensions) can be made. Depending on service level requirements both the dimensions of individual bunker stations and their spread over the network may be optimized. Key contribution of this work is a thorough overview of aspects that play a role in the design of bunker infrastructure for the decarbonisation of inland shipping. Based on this overview steps for further research are recommended.