Abstract
The importance of renewable energy exploitation reduces the energy dependence on fossil fuels. Despite technological progress, in several remote areas and small islands the energy production is nowadays dominated by the utilization of fossil fuels. With new, increasingly stringent laws on polluting emissions and the need to lower production costs, it is necessary to exploit as many renewable sources as possible. In order to implement these considerations, it was decided to study renewable energy production. The study was carried out by estimating the energy production on a monthly and annual basis considering a mix of three plants, namely marine, solar, and wind. Simulations on wave production were carried out on a new device developed by the research team at the University of Palermo. In order to be able to perform these simulations, input climate data are required. These data are normally available in literature or obtainable by using specific GIS tools. As criterium, the Levelized Cost of Energy, normally applied to a single technology, is extended to the entire energy mix. Minimizing this parameter, the best solution is individuated, and capable of supplying 50% of the summer electrical load with renewable energy sources. The results carried out from a case study based in aeolian islands show that the solar production reaches 10.2%, the wind production reaches 45.47% and sea wave production reaches 3.04%. In this way, the diesel production decreases to 41.29%. This method can be easily applied for several small islands, estimating for several sites the ability to reduce the energy production from fossil fuels.
Highlights
After Kyoto Protocol, the European Union promoted the installation of plants supplied by Renewable Energy Sources (RES), introducing specific policies [1]
The above-mentioned mathematical model has been applied to the Aeolian islands, taking into account the electrical production from renewable energy sources like solar photovoltaic, wind, and sea wave [49]
The better solution is based on the evaluation of Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) as a function of the number of the devices installed for the utilization of wind, solar, and sea wave energies
Summary
After Kyoto Protocol, the European Union promoted the installation of plants supplied by Renewable Energy Sources (RES), introducing specific policies [1]. Due to the diffusion of RES, the unitary cost for the installation of power plants has been progressively reduced, assuming nowadays the same range of fossil fuels plants [3]. From an environmental point of view, the adoption of RES reduces the emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, improves the air quality, and decreases the energy dependence on fossil fuels [4]. The main results are linked to the electrical sector, since most of the RES technologies are designed to produce energy (like photovoltaic panels, wind, and hydro turbines) [5]. RES plants are spreading in the indoor heating sector (for example, solar thermal panels or low temperature geotherm) and in the transport sector (essentially biofuel) With the recent ratification of the “Paris agreement”, the signatory countries agreed on common goals to preserve the environment, limiting the CO2 emissions in order to contain the global warming below 1.5 ◦ C [2].
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