Comprehensive analysis of a novel integration of a biomass-driven combined heat and power plant with a compressed air energy storage (CAES)

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Unlike wind and solar energy, biomass is capable of providing stable and controllable energy output in an energy system at zero or even negative net emission rate. The combination of a gasification unit with a Brayton cycle is one of the traditional methods of utilizing biomass resources. This work presents a thorough (Energy, Exergy, Economic, Exergoeconomic, and Environmental) analysis of a biomass-driven combined heat and power (CHP), via a gasifier, with a compressed air energy storage (CAES) unit. The hybrid system is capable of multi-generating heat and power as well as contributing to load shifting and peak shaving for the electricity grid. With about 71% and 47% of total and electrical round-trip efficiencies, the proposed system demonstrates 67% and 12% efficiency improvement in comparison to the stand-alone biomass power plant. 348.4 MWh is the net produced power each day and 50% of this amount is generated during the on-peak period. Also, 6651.4 m3 domestic hot water is produced during the 24-hour operation of the system. The Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of the system is around 0.05 $/kWh with an average electricity price of 0.1 $/kWh elaborating the economic potentials of the system. The payback period and total profit of around 2 years and 181 M$ further prove the economic feasibility of the proposed system. Moreover, due to obtained results from the environmental analysis, it is proved that the introduced system is capable of capturing 25,764 tonnes/year CO2 emission from the atmosphere.