Abstract
Micro-district heating networks based on cogeneration plants and renewable energy technologies are considered efficient, viable and environmentally-friendly solutions to realizing smart multi-energy microgrids. Nonetheless, the energy production from renewable sources is intermittent and stochastic, and cogeneration units are characterized by fixed power-to-heat ratios, which are incompatible with fluctuating thermal and electric demands. These drawbacks can be partially overcome by smart operational controls that are capable of maximizing the energy system performance. Moreover, electrically driven heat pumps may add flexibility to the system, by shifting thermal loads into electric loads. In this paper, a novel configuration for smart multi-energy microgrids, which combines centralized and distributed energy units is proposed. A centralized cogeneration system, consisting of an internal combustion engine is connected to a micro-district heating network. Distributed electric heat pumps assist the thermal production at the building level, giving operational flexibility to the system and supporting the integration of renewable energy technologies, i.e., wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, and solar thermal collectors. The proposed configuration was tested in a hypothetical case study, namely, a University Campus located in Trieste, Italy. The system operation is based on a cost-optimal control strategy and the effect of the size of the cogeneration unit and heat pumps was investigated. A comparison with a conventional configuration, without distributed heat pumps, was also performed. The results show that the proposed configuration outperformed the conventional one, leading to a total-cost saving of around 8%, a carbon emission reduction of 11%, and a primary energy saving of 8%.
Highlights
Cogeneration of useful heat and electrical power for an urban district or a cluster of buildings is a technically mature, environmentally-friendly and cost-effective solution, supported by the EuropeanUnion Directive [1] on energy efficiency, together with the use of renewable energy sources (RES).the Directive [2] on energy performance of buildings indicates four high-efficiency technologies, whose feasibility should be evaluated prior to construction of any new building: (a) decentralized energy supply systems based on RES; (b) cogeneration; (c) district or block heating or cooling; and (d) heat pumps.In view of this, several different configurations of distributed energy systems (DES) have been investigated in recent years, mostly focusing on cogeneration units and RES technologies
The optimal design and operation of a hybrid renewable energy system based on an internal combustion engine and photovoltaic panels was investigated by Destro et al [7]
The present work discusses a novel configuration for smart multi-energy microgrids, which consists of distributed energy units and a centralized cogeneration unit feeding a micro-district heating network
Summary
Cogeneration of useful heat and electrical power for an urban district or a cluster of buildings is a technically mature, environmentally-friendly and cost-effective solution, supported by the European. The intermittent and stochastic nature of RES limits their use, and cogeneration units are characterized by a fixed power-to-heat ratio, they fail to match both fluctuating thermal and electric demands. Heat pumps are a mature and efficient technology, and they are especially suited to the implementation of smart control strategies [12] For those reasons, the present work discusses a novel configuration for smart multi-energy microgrids, which consists of distributed energy units and a centralized cogeneration unit feeding a micro-district heating network. The heat pumps represent an interconnection between the electricity and heating networks, they can be used to increase the operational flexibility of the microgrid and support the integration of renewable energy technologies, i.e., wind turbine, photovoltaic panels, and solar thermal collectors.
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