GWh Of Electricity Research Articles

Optimal design and analysis of a district energy system including heat and power production for domestic applications and fuel for vehicles

Residential sector has a great share in the global energy demand. As the use of renewable energy sources increases, energy supply of the residential demand has to be changed as well. In this paper, a polygeneration hybrid system is proposed to supply electrical power, thermal energy, and hydrogen fuel for vehicles by means of renewable energy sources for a community including 2000 households. The system is connected to the central grid and energy carriers can be exchanged between the system and the grid. The electrical load profile is based on the types of the buildings and thermal load is estimated considering the ambient temperature. Moreover, the mathematical modeling of system components along with real meteorological data is employed to evaluate energy and material flow throughout system components and users. The system component sizes are calculated using gray wolf optimization algorithm to provide the least possible net present cost. The results show that net present cost of the system is 47.34 M$ which means each house hold should pay 946 $ for energy expenses every year. Considering current prices, battery storage is not a part of the optimum configuration. The main source of electricity in the system is the PV arrays and the heat demand is mainly supplied by the natural gas purchased from the grid. Also, the analysis revealed that while about 18.5 GWh electrical energy can be sold to the grid yearly the amount of purchased electrical power is significantly smaller and 3.98 GWh electricity should be bought annually.

Solar Field Optimization and its Impact on Overall Design and Performance of Solar Tower Thermal Power Plant in Bangladesh

Electricity generation using solar thermal power systems can be made more efficient and both technically and economically feasible in countries receiving moderate solar radiation like Bangladesh through thorough optimization of different parts of the power plant. In this paper a theoretical and mathematical framework for optimization of a 150 MW solar tower thermal power plant in Bangladesh which uses molten salt as HTF has been developed by applying different methods of selecting crucial design aspects, such as design point DNI, solar multiple, design point temperature etc. after selecting the most appropriate location based on GHI and DNI data. The effect of these design aspects on the overall design of the power plant including the number of heliostats, solar field land area, tower height, receiver dimensions etc. have also been studied and finally the performance analysis of the power plant has been conducted. Analysis of performance reveals that the optimized power plant would be able to deliver 528.66 GW-h electricity annually to the national grid while operating at a capacity factor of 40.2% and gross-net conversion efficiency of 88.635%. The promising performance of the power plant would encourage further research and innovation regarding large scale electricity generation from solar energy in Bangladesh.

Concentrated solar driven thermochemical hydrogen production plant with thermal energy storage and geothermal systems

In this study, a concentrated solar and geothermal based integrated system is thermodynamically investigated to produce useful outputs, such as hydrogen, space heating, electricity, and fresh water. The present system consists of a thermochemical copper-chlorine (Cu–Cl) hydrogen production plant, a geothermal system, a trilateral ammonia Rankine cycle power plant, a multi-effect distillation (MED) desalination unit, a parabolic trough collector (PTC) concentrated solar power (CSP) system with thermal energy storage (TES), and a residential heat pump. As a case study, a hypothetical community is considered near Geysers in California. All produced commodities, except for hydrogen, are utilized for domestic consumption purposes in the community. Hydrogen is supplied to fueling stations in California. One of the most critical requirements of the system, high-grade heat for Cu–Cl cycle, is met by PTC CSP with molten salt TES system. Space heating, electricity, and fresh water productions are powered by geothermal energy systems. Several simulations have been conducted for detailed analyses of the proposed system. Energy and exergy analyses are conducted for the overall system and each component. Some of the subsystems are comparatively assessed and sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effects of different parameters on the performance of the entire system as well as various subsystem.Cost assessment studies are conducted for the overall system and its subsystems. 5.5 MWp geothermal and 12.97 MWt solar systems produced 296.9 tons of hydrogen fuel at $2.84/kg cost, 47.6 GWh electricity at $0.03/kWh cost with heat and fresh water due to the simulations. Both energy and exergy efficiencies are found to be 27.4% and 17.3% respectively for the overall proposed system at the ambient conditions.

The Enhancement of Energy Efficiency in a Wastewater Treatment Plant through Sustainable Biogas Use: Case Study from Poland

The improvement of energy efficiency ensuring high nutrients removal is a great concern for many wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The energy balance of a WWTP can be improved through the application of highly efficient digestion or its intensification, e.g., through the introduction of the co-substrates with relatively high energy potential to the sewage sludge (SS). In the present study, the overview of the energetic aspect of the Polish WWTPs was presented. The evaluation of energy consumption at individual stages of wastewater treatment along with the possibilities of its increasing was performed. Additionally, the influence of co-digestion process implementation on the energy efficiency of a selected WWTP in Poland was investigated. The evaluation was carried out for a WWTP located in Iława. Both energetic and treatment efficiency were analyzed. The energy balance evaluation of this WWTP was also performed. The obtained results indicated that the WWTP in Iława produced on average 2.54 GWh per year (7.63 GWh of electricity in total) as a result of the co-digestion of sewage sludge with poultry processing waste. A single cubic meter of co-substrates fed to the digesters yielded an average of 25.6 ± 4.3 Nm3 of biogas (between 18.3 and 32.2 Nm3/m3). This enabled covering the energy demand of the plant to a very high degree, ranging from 93.0% to 99.8% (98.2% on average). Importantly, in the presence of the co-substrate, the removal efficiency of organic compounds was enhanced from 64% (mono-digestion) to 69–70%.

Project planning and control analysis for suburban photovoltaic alternative electric power supply in Southwestern Nigeria

Alternative photovoltaic (PV) electric power systems are designed for suburban residential complexes in Nigeria’s Southwestern region as succour to erratic grid power supply. The initial project in suburban Ibadan, Oyo State was analyzed as model for other stakeholders in the region. A project planning framework was used for analysis. The project scope, cost and time specifications were determined: a 7 MW PV system designed over 35 acres, estimated power generation costs of US$2.56 per watt, estimated total project cost of $17.9 million, estimated cost at completion of $21.6 million, and estimated completion time of 12 months 19 days. Techno-economic benefits include 15.83 GWh of electricity and revenue of US$1.74 million per annum per state. Environmental benefits include annual elimination of 1.58 million litres of diesel fuel use and 4241.8 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere. The schemes were determined to be non-viable at the extant electricity utility rates of US$0.07 per kWh but viable at electricity utility rate of $0.11 per kWh with payback period of 16 years. The study concluded that in spite of the expected project time delay and budget overshoot, the project was viable and a suitable template for Southwestern Nigeria.

Production of sorghum pellets for electricity generation in Indonesia: A life cycle assessment

The current study makes use of life cycle assessment to evaluate the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) savings in coal electricity generation by 5% co-firing with sorghum pellets. The research models the utilization of 100 thousand hectares of under-utilized marginal land in Flores (Indonesia) for biomass sorghum cultivation. Based on equivalent energy content, 1.12 tons of pellets can substitute one ton of coal. The calculated fossil energy ratio of the pellets was 5.8, indicating that the production of pellets for fuel is energetically feasible. Based on a biomass yield of 48 ton/ha·yr, 4.8 million tons of pellets can be produced annually. In comparison with a coal system, the combustion of only pellets to generate 8,300 GWh of electricity can reduce global warming impacts by 7.9 million tons of CO2-eq, which is equivalent to an 85% reduction in GHG emissions. However, these results changed when reduced biomass yield of 24 ton/ha·yr, biomass loss, field emissions, and incomplete combustion were considered in the model. A sensitivity analysis of the above factors showed that the potential GHG savings could decrease from the initially projected 85% to as low as 70%. Overall, the production of sorghum pellets in Flores and their utilization for electricity generation can significantly reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and contribute to climate change mitigation. Some limitations to these conclusions were also discussed herein. The results of this scenario study can assist the Indonesian government in exploring the potential utilization of marginal land for bioenergy development, both in Indonesia and beyond.

Assessment of solar power potential in a hill state of India using remote sensing and Geographic Information System

Estimation of the solar energy potential of the area is a pre-requisite for the large-scale deployment of photovoltaic (PV) panels. This study summarizes the solar PV potential at the rooftop areas of Uttarakhand through satellite imageries. The available rooftop area for solar PV system installation was estimated by a three-step hierarchical process including physical, geographic, and technical aspects. Our results showed that 58% area of the state receives solar radiation greater than 4 kWh/m2/day throughout the year.Using median efficiency (15%) of PV panels, the rooftop solar energy generation potential in hill region of Uttarakhand was estimated at 9.1 GWh from January to March, 12.7 GWh from April to June, 12.4 GWh from July to September and 7.7 GWh from October to December. If all available high irradiance roof-space (technical potential) is utilized for solar power generation it contributes about 57% of the state electricity consumption. The PV potential of field survey reports 27.47 GWh electricity output from the 234.4 MW ground-mounted solar PV systems and 5.9 MW rooftop solar PV systems in the plain district of Uttarakhand.Despite having high solar insolation, hills are ignored as potential solar energy sites due to their topography. Utilizing the flat rooftop surface to harvesting solar energy via solar PV panels can be a solution to issues arising due to undulating terrains of the mountains.

Techno-economic assessment for optimal electricity and diesel fuel production using corncob gasification–Fischer Tropsch process

Biomass gasification technology has been developed in Indonesia in the last 30 years. However, the use of synthetic gas directly on diesel engine and steam turbine for electricity generation has a relatively low efficiency. New technology has been emerged to integrate thermal gasification with Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis which then can be combined with heat and electricity production. This paper consists of techno-economic study for optimal electricity and diesel fuel production using corncob gasification integrated with FT process. Optimal production (409 GWh electricity, 58,900 kL fuel) can be achieved when using air and operating pressure 25 bar. Calculated production cost is 6,569 IDR/kL FT fuel and 245 IDR/kWh electricity. With average Indonesian electricity tariff 1,123 IDR/kWh, BGFT electricity production cost is much lower, about 22% of Indonesian electricity tariff. Corncob price change has higher effect on electricity production cost than water price change. So, if the electricity cost wants to be hold in economic level, then the corncob price should be held constant. The price will stay constant if there are no competitor that would use corncob as raw material. As of now, corncob still considered as waste that are not used for economic activities.

Analysis of energy and greenhouse gas emissions of rice straw to energy chain in Egypt

Rice straw as a source of energy could substitute for fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, the aim of this paper was to analyze the energy and GHG emissions of rice straw to the energy chain in Egypt. The analysis was performed starting from paddy production, straw collection and transportation, and energy generation for two scenarios: power plant and anaerobic digestion plant. The results showed that the paddy production and transportation stage represented the highest contribution of the total energy consumption and GHG emissions for the two scenarios, respectively. The energy potential was estimated with 4193 GWh electricity and 25,647 × 106 MJ of biogas energy. It was also found that use of rice straw as an energy source could reduce the use of fossil fuel and mitigate air pollution from direct burning of rice straw by 3 Mt CO2-eq of GHG emissions.

Sustainable Thermochemical Valorization of Cashew Nut Waste in West Africa: Experimental Study and Evaluation of the Energy Potential in Côte d'Ivoire

The local shelling of cashew nuts in West Africa generates very abundant and troublesome waste for high-capacity processing units. In order to contribute to the local production of sustainable energy and to overcome the difficulty of managing these agro-industrial residues, our study focused on the valorization of shells into energy vectors, using pyrolysis furnaces. Thus, the thermochemical study and elementary analyses made it possible to evaluate the net calorific values of the shell coal and fuel gas generated by pyrolysis, respectively at 6,801 kcal/kg and 4,300 kcal/kg. For CA´te d'Ivoire, the world's leading producer and first processor in the sub-region, local processing of cashew nuts can generate the availability of 44,398 to 104,717 tonnes of shells per year. The study of the energy potential showed that from the year 2018, the annual energy potential of this biomass in CA´te d'Ivoire will evolve from 20,597 to 48,580 toe with a production capacity of 62.93 to 148.43 GWh of electricity and 7,547.66 to 17,802 tons of shell coal. For a national energy consumption close to that of 2018, the rate of renewable energies in the electricity mix could therefore be increased from 0.63% to 1.5% and wood charcoal consumption reduced from 12.88% to nearly 30.4%. The development of cashew nut shell pyrolysis in West Africa could therefore reduce the use of fossil fuels for power generation and deforestation, two of the main causes of local climate change.

Energy from municipal solid wastes: Galati city case study

The municipal solid wastes (MSW) can be turned into resources through recycling and energy recovery. To obtain the maximum amount of energy, the appropriate technology must be applied to waste treatment. The composition and characteristics of municipal solid wastes are determinant for technologies choice for MSW in a city/region. Municipal authorities from the Galati city proposed a recovery rate of recyclable materials of 60% from MSW and treatment of the post-recycling MSW as follow: biodegradable fraction by anaerobic digestion and the combustible fraction by incineration or gasification. In this study traditional and innovative waste to energy technologies have been analysed and the potential of electrical energy of waste has been estimated. Results show that plasma gasification system of raw MSW coupled with gas turbine engine has almost the same electrical energy production (32.92 GWh/year) as conventional gasification of combustible material from MSW (17.21GWh/year) coupled with anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of MSW (11.65 GWh/year). By recovering and using the landfill gas from the Tirighina landfill, 6.68 GWh of electricity can be produced annually.

Renewable energy sources in the Region of Warmia and Mazury in north-eastern Poland

The region of Warmia and Mazury in Poland is fourth largest voivodeship which occupies 7,7 % of the country’s territory. The Region of Warmia and Mazury in north-eastern Poland is situated at a distance from conventional energy sources. Therefore, the Region is a Polish leader in power generation from renewable energy sources. The structure of electrical grids in the Region of Warmia and Mazury is poorly developed and insufficient. Therefore, electric power infrastructure should be expanded and modernized as part of energy sector development to increase energy efficiency as well as electricity and heat production from renewable energy sources. The Region of Warmia and Mazury is characterized by a considerable discrepancy between energy generation and energy use. It recent years, electricity consumption exceeded energy production more than 10-fold. The region has to purchase energy from external sources and develop new generation methods, in particular those that rely on renewable resources of energy. In Warmia and Mazury, the most popular renewable energy sources include biomass, wind turbines, solar and photovoltaic panels, hydropower, heat pumps and geothermal energy. The region is characterized by distributed energy generation in small polants that carter mostly to local needs. The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn has developed, in collaboration with the Warmia and Mazury Energy Agency, a renewable energy strategy for 2010-2020 in the Region of Warmia and Mazury. The strategy is consistent with the Polish Energy Policy and the national plan for the use of renewable energy sources. In the region Warmia and Mazury, efforts are being made to generate 14,000 TJ of energy from renewable sources ( approx. 18,4 % of energy consumption in the region) and 1,700 GWh of electricity (approx. 49 % of energy consumption in the region), reduce CO2 emissions in the energy sector by 1,530,000 tons, and the decrease energy consumption per unit of GDP (PLN 1 million) from 1.94 TJ to 1.67 TJ by 2020.

Forecasting Turkey's cattle and sheep manure based biomethane potentials till 2026

In this study, Turkey's cattle and sheep manure based biomethane potentials are forecasted till 2026. Novel to this study, semi-empirical models based on per capita meat consumption and milk production are used to forecast Turkey's cattle and sheep population. It is estimated that Turkey's cattle and sheep population in 2026 could reach up to 18.7 and 39.2 million, respectively. At these population levels, Turkey's cattle and sheep manure based biomethane generation could reach up to 1.99 billion m3 and 0.15 billion m3, respectively. This is equal to a total of nearly 2.14 billion m3 of biomethane in 2026. This amount of biomethane could provide nearly 6,600 GWh of electricity or supply nearly 2.9% of Turkey's natural gas demand in 2026.

Küçük Hidrolik Santrallerde Kapasite Faktör Analizi Ve Giresun Özelinde Bir Uygulama

Energy is the fundamental element of social and economic sustainability in every aspect of life, from the smallest living body to large scale industrial facilities. In Turkey rapidly increasing industrial development process lead to extensive energy demand, which is met largely from imported fossil sources. Especially in recent years, as a result of increasing environmental awareness and economic and strategic reasons, a portion of the energy deficit is fed from, clean and reliable hydroelectric power plants with great importance. In our country, a total of 295511 GWh electricity was produced in 2017. About 41368 GWh (14%) of the total amount was generated by large hydraulic plants and 17082 GWh (5.78%) by small hydraulic plants. In this study, small hydroelectric power (SHP) stations are considered to reduce the increasing energy cost and for this purpose SHP in Giresun are analyzed leading to private additives in the capacity factor analysis. According to the results it is possible to conclude that thetime of power plant investment is shortened as the capacity factor increases in hydroelectric power plants.

Regional economic and environmental impacts of wind power developments: A case study of a German region

Wind power is an important technology in the transition towards a low carbon economy. This paper covers the regional impacts of wind power developments in a small German region. Wind power developments with a cumulative capacity of 63.1 MW which have been installed in 2017 in the Aachen region, generating 3901 GWh electricity from 2017 to 2037 lead to a regional value added of €50.8 million (or €805/kW). The avoided greenhouse gas emissions are 132,770 tCO2-equivalents in 2017 and the total economic impacts of value added, avoided greenhouse gases and air pollution ranging from €20.9 to €24.6 million (€332–389 per kW or €107–126 per MWh electricity generated) in 2017. From an environmental economic view, the generation of wind power is the most beneficial electricity generation technology in comparison to PV and lignite.

Waste-to-Energy Conversion in Havana: Technical and Economic Analysis

Havana has the highest population and consequently generation of municipal solid wastes (MSW) in Cuba. In Havana, the final deposition method for MSW is mainly landfills. However, in most cases, they exceed their lifetime of operation becoming in reality dumpsites without energy recovery from wastes. In this regard, waste-to-energy is a well-established technology for MSW treatment. The aim of this work was to carry out a techno-economic assessment for a proposed waste-to-energy plant in the city of Havana. A step-wise methodology based on two process analysis tools (i.e., Excel and Aspen Plus models) was used for the technical evaluation. Simulation results are in agreement with data from real plants, showing that it is possible to produce 227.1 GWh of electricity per year, representing 6% of the current demand in Havana. The economic analysis showed the feasibility of the project with a net present value of 35,483,853 USD. Results from the sensitivity analyses show the effect of the economy of scale when changes in low heating value were considered. Finally, a hypothetical best scenario was studied considering the net effect on the average Cuban salary.

Technoeconomic analysis of floating solar field for 1 GWh of electricity generation

This paper presents a technoeconomic evaluation of 1 GWh electricity generation using a floating solar PV (FSPV) system implemented on the Bakun Lake. Five PV brands are evaluated for 2×2, 3×3, 4×4 and 5×5 layout designs. The major factors used for the evaluations: total capital cost, total platform area, stability or percentage weight distribution, product warranty and PV efficiency. In total, 20 design scenarios are evaluated using a heuristic-based optimization approach to determine the best design. An optimization considering the total cost, coverage area and stability suggests that the 3x3 layout using Astronergy brand is the best design for the FSPV. However, a long-term analysis considering product warranty and efficiency reveals that the Panasonic brand is the most cost-effective after 40 years of operation.

Net Electricity and Heat Generated by Reusing Mediterranean Agro-Industrial By-Products

The necessity to investigate suitable alternatives to conventional fossil fuels has increased interest in several renewable energy resources, especially in biomasses that are widely available and make it possible to reach environmental and socio-economic improvements. Among solutions for bioenergy production, anaerobic digestion technology allows biogas production by reusing agricultural residues and agro-industrial by-products. By considering the basic concepts of the Biogasdoneright® method, the objective of this study was to estimate the theoretical potential net electricity and heat production from anaerobic digestion of citrus pulp and olive pomace highly available worldwide. A model was developed and applied in a study area of the Mediterranean basin, where the biogas sector is still very limited despite the importance of both agricultural and agro-industrial activities, especially with regard to citrus and olive cultivation processing. Firstly, the application of a geographical information system (GIS) software tool allowed the estimation of the biogas potentially produced from citrus pulp and olive pomace re-use. Then, the development of a technical assessment demonstrated that 15.9 GWh electricity and 88,000 GJ heat per year could be generated from these by-products, satisfying approximate 17% of the electricity demand of the agricultural sector of the study area (90.2 GWh y−1). The achieved results could be relevant with regard to the intervention priorities established by the European Union related to the planning activities supported by the European Structural and Investment Funds within the Smart Specialisation Strategy.

Energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining: A study of electricity consumption in mining cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency is a relatively new combination of cryptology and currency in financial areas and is increasingly frequently used worldwide. Blockchain applications are expected to reshape the renewable energy market. However, there is a lack of studies covering the power usage of digital currencies. Therefore, this study ran experiments on mining efficiency of nine kinds of cryptocurrencies and ten algorithms. A comparison of statistical analysis of data in a benchmark and experiment results of Monero mining was conducted. Thereafter, this study provided an estimation of global electricity consumption of the Monero mining activity. The results indicated that the hashing algorithm mainly determines the mining efficiency. Data analysis and experiments and estimated Monero mining electricity consumption in the world and its carbon emission in China as a case study. In 2018, Monero mining may consume 645.62 GWh of electricity in the world after its hard fork. The Monero mining in China may consume 30.34 GWh and contribute a carbon emission of 19.12–19.42 thousand tons from April to December in 2018. Although cryptocurrency mining and blockchain technology are promising, their influence on energy conversation and sustainable development should be further studied.

Power Generation for India with Higher Efficiency

The developed countries are consuming more amount of energy in all forms including electricity continuously with advanced technologies. Developing nation’s energy usage trend rises quickly but very less in comparison with their population and their method of generating power is not seems to be as advanced as developed nations. The objective function of this linear programming model is to maximize the average efficiency of power generation inIndia for 2020 by giving preference to energy efficient technologies. This model is subjected to various constraints like potential, demand, running cost and Hydrogen / Carbon ratio, isolated load, emission and already installed capacities. Tora package is used to solve this linear program. Coal, Gas, Hydro and Nuclear sources can are supply around 87 % of power requirement . It’s concluded that we can produce power at overall efficiency of 37% while meeting a huge demand of 13,00,000 GWh of electricity. The objective function shows the scenario of highaverage efficiency with presence of 9% renewables. Maximum value is restricted by low renewable source’s efficiencies, emission constraints on fossil fuels and cost restriction on some of efficient technologies. This model shows that maximum 18% of total requirement can be met by renewable itself which reduces average efficiency to 35.8%. Improving technologies of renewable sources and necessary capacity addition to them in regular interval will enhance their role and existence against fossil fuels in future. The work involves conceptualizing, modeling, gathering information for data’s to be used in model for problem solving and presenting different scenarios for same objective.