Abstract
In response to the Positive Energy District transition, this paper proposes an energy tool for the modeling of energy sharing configurations among buildings equipped with energy production systems and distributive storages. The model is targeted for urban planners and energy policymakers and gives insights into the role of buildings in fostering the achievement of net-zero energy balances in districts when virtual or physical peer-to-peer configurations are established in the area. A real urban district is considered as a case study and the energy performances are measured against properly defined Key Performance Indicators. Results confirm the strategic role played by energy sharing among buildings in achieving self-sufficient and carbon-neutral areas. In particular, the insertion of storages allows not only for higher self-sufficiency of the area (by facilitating the coupling of production and demand) but also for higher distribution rates among buildings. However, photovoltaic insertion and storages should be appropriately balanced since it has been observed that at increasing the number of production and storage systems, the distribution is reduced in favor of autonomy, thus limiting the usefulness of an interconnected local distribution grid.
Highlights
Built-up areas are responsible for a high level of energy consumption and consequent carbon emissions (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2015)
The proposed methodology aims at supporting urban planners and energy policymakers toward the definition of proper action plans targeted for Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) with enabled energy sharing among buildings equipped with local energy production systems and energy storage
The rate of energy shared among buildings is higher for #Sc1, i.e., for the scenario characterized by a lower energy production capacity. This can be explained by considering that, consistently with the results reported in Table 3 for fixed energy production, #Sc1 ensures for a more connected district, being the majority of established connections among building effectively crossed by energy flows; a higher amount of energy is distributed within the district
Summary
Built-up areas are responsible for a high level of energy consumption and consequent carbon emissions (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2015). The integration of renewable energy production systems at the urban scale has proven to be a significant solution to target the EU’s strategic objectives in terms of both energy efficiency and emissions reduction In this sense, urban communities play a pivotal role in fostering the transition toward sustainability and climate neutrality. The insertion of renewables implied, de facto, the rising of decentralized distribution configurations among buildings, able to produce, self-consume, and distribute energy within their neighborhood (Parag and Sovacool, 2016) This emergent feature of the building sector paves the way for inclusive urbanization, in which the citizen’s role of shaping sustainable and autonomous districts can no longer be neglected (Fichera et al, 2016a). The Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan, Action 3.2, stressed the need for planning the diffusion of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs), i.e., urban agglomerates with annual net-zero energy imports and net-zero
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