Design and evaluation of a wind turbine-driven heat pump system for domestic heating in Scotland

Abstract

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act sets greenhouse gases net-zero emissions targets by 2045, and wind energy can be used as the alternative energy source to reduce domestic energy consumption. Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Carlisle were selected as typical regions based on population density, energy consumption, and wind resources, and a wind turbine-driven heat pump system is designed to heat detached houses by using DesignBuilder and TRNSYS. Wind heating efficiency, load satisfaction, CO2 emission reduction, and profitability indicators are proposed to evaluate the performance. Results show that wind turbines can meet energy requirements of detached houses with the assistance of the municipal grid. The wind heating efficiency and the load satisfaction probability reached 69% and 98% in these four regions, respectively. Compared to the modeled emissions, the annual CO2 emissions reduction ratio is 3.0–6.5%. Increasing the capacity of batteries and wind turbines can increase wind heating efficiency, load satisfaction, and CO2 emission reduction. The increase of the wind turbine's capacity can reduce the wind heating efficiency. Since the low profitability could affect the economic feasibility of the system, increasing the government economic incentives and reducing costs are of great significance to the promotion of this system in Scotland.