Abstract
The paradigm of highly integrated cross sector energy systems grants several opportunities for welcoming high shares of renewable energy sources in meeting the energy demands of current urban districts. A key asset towards such challenge lies in the progressive deployment of more distributed energy systems, achieving configurations tailored to the needs of the local communities lying in their physical proximities. This study analyses the case study of a small town situated in central Italy, which energy supply already features a set of distributed and cross-sector energy resources such as a district heating network fed by a 1.2 MWe natural gas engine and more than 30 MWp of non-controllable renewables. The city energy systems are modelled in the analysis tool EnergyPLAN in order to analyse the technical feasibility of introducing different technological options aimed at reducing the polluting emissions generated in meeting different energy related needs of the district.
Highlights
In order to meet the impelling challenge to curb emissions and more towards a more sustainable society [1] there are several options and approaches which leverage both the trend of increasingly decentralized energy systems and the rapid ascent of renewable energy sources and energy storage technologies [2]. Another significant shift in energy consumption lies in the expected uptake of electric vehicles (EV) [3], which will entail a radical shift of energy demands towards an increased request of electricity, and the potential of using the same EVs as grid-balancing assets through advanced smart charging and discharging schemes [4]
This study proposes the analysis of a real test case of a small town situated in central Italy, which already has a significant penetration of non-controllable renewable energy sources (RES) by means of PV systems
These are the ones generated by using grid electricity, the ones that are offset by injecting green electricity into the same grid, and the ones that are generated locally by burning natural gas to feed the DHN heat demand
Summary
In order to meet the impelling challenge to curb emissions and more towards a more sustainable society [1] there are several options and approaches which leverage both the trend of increasingly decentralized energy systems and the rapid ascent of renewable energy sources and energy storage technologies [2] Another significant shift in energy consumption lies in the expected uptake of electric vehicles (EV) [3], which will entail a radical shift of energy demands towards an increased request of electricity, and the potential of using the same EVs as grid-balancing assets through advanced smart charging and discharging schemes [4]. With regards to the transport sector, the full electrification of the local vehicle fleet is studied by considering the potential impact of advanced charging/discharging capabilities of the vehicles such as vehicle-to-grid (V2G), which could potentially have a significant impact in helping to welcome high shares of RES
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