Techno-economic Feasibility Analysis Research Articles

Techno‐economic assessment and optimization of a standalone residential hybrid energy system for sustainable energy utilization

Nowadays the whole world is striving to achieve energy security and sustainable development through sustainable utilization of cleaner energy resources. But due to the rapidly rising population caused by the unprecedented urban development, it has created imbalances of energy supply and demand. Hybrid energy systems have emerged as a promising source to augment existing energy infrastructure for sustainable energy supply and to reduce the impact of challenges posed by the energy scarcities. There have been continuous requests from the urban sector for additional energy resources, but the energy generation involves a complex phenomenon. In India also, there are abundances of rising energy demands from various sectors over the regions, and these demands cannot be fulfilled further due to the limitations of the energy generation grids. As a result, an approach is required to offer additional energy resources beyond the use of diesel generator (which increases environmental pollution). Recently due advancement in hybrid energy systems consisting of non-renewable & renewable or renewable & renewable or non-renewable & non-renewable, it provides a scope to understand the various configuration of the hybrid energy system for past trends, present status and future scenarios. The investment in energy technologies is critical to be evaluated with techno-economic feasibility analysis for resource efficiency optimization. Hence, the main objective of this work is to propose an optimal system configuration for urban residential standalone hybrid energy systems to fulfil the electrical energy requirement, which is technically and economically reliable & feasible. The current work accounts for scaling up the existing energy system with proper implementation. The simulations results show that expected average energy requirements of 5 kWh/day with a peak of 818 W for a typical household can be met with proposed configuration (with components like solar PV, wind turbine, power generator [diesel] and battery backup system). The data simulation and optimization technique for a monthly profile of wind, solar, and excess energy generation over HOMER simulation toolkit offer the potential to generate excess electricity of 19.3%. Techno-economic assessment of the system shows that the proposed system offers more economical and performance benefits. This study also articulates the need to propose a better energy system structure with basic energy grid extension as a cost-effective solution for sustainable development. Similar kind of assessment will offer a useful decision support system for tropical countries to guide future researchers in energy studies.

Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of Grid-Connected Microgrid Design by Using a Modified Multi-Strategy Fusion Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm

The present work investigates the techno-economic solution that can address the problem of rural electrification. To maintain a continuous power supply to this village area, a grid-connected microgrid system was designed that consists of solar photovoltaic (SPV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS). The recently introduced multi-strategy fusion artificial bee colony (MFABC) algorithm was hybridized with the simulated annealing approach and is referred to as the MFABC+ algorithm. This was employed to determine the optimal sizing of different components comprising the integrated system as well as to maximize the techno-economic objectives. For validation, the simulation results obtained by the MFABC+ algorithm are compared with the results obtained using HOMER software, the particle swarm optimization algorithms and the original MFABC algorithm. It was revealed that the MFABC+ algorithm has a better convergence rate and the potential ability to provide compromising results in comparison to these existing optimization tools. It was also discovered through the comprehensive evaluation that the proposed system has the potential capability to meet the electricity demand of the village for 24 × 7 at the lowest levelized cost of electricity.

Techno-economic Feasibility Analysis of an Off-grid Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Rural Electrification

The demand for electricity in remote rural areas is a major obstacle to their development. The extension of the grid network to remote rural areas has been identified as a difficult topography for complex constructions and enormous investments. The development of off-grid renewable energy generation technologies offers the opportunity for tackling these challenges. This study provides a techno-economic feasibility analysis of an off-grid hybrid renewable energy system for a rural village of district Kech, Balochistan, Pakistan. The proposed hybrid system integrates the different combinations of the wind turbine, solar PV modules, and battery backups to meet the required electric load demand. The hybrid system is modeled and optimized through a powerful simulation software Hybrid Optimized Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER-Pro). The optimized configuration of the hybrid system consists of wind turbines (12kW), solar PV (103kW), 224 lead-acid batteries (72.4Ah each), and 29.1 kW converters. The simulation results show that the proposed system can meet the power requirements of 197.74kWh/day primary demand load with 27.87kW peak load. This system configuration has the Net Present Cost (NPC) of $127,345 and Cost of Energy (COE) of 0.137$/kWh with a 100% renewable fraction. Furthermore, the results of the present study are compared with the literature and have resulted in a cost-effective hybrid renewable energy system with a low COE.

Techno-economic Feasibility Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic System for Single Households in Peri-urban Areas Kumasi, Ghana

Techno-economic Feasibility Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic System for Single Households in Peri-urban Areas Kumasi, Ghana

Determination of wind potential characteristics and techno-economic feasibility analysis of wind turbines for Northwest Africa

This study introduced an investigation to evaluate spatial and temporal variations of the wind potential for the techno-economic feasibility analysis of the energy production in Northwest Africa (a case of Mauritania). The present research was introduced as the first attempt to appraise the spatio-temporal influence of the wind energy production in Mauritania, and particularly focused on analyzing seasonal, daily, and turbulence index on the available wind potential in this region. Data measured every 10 min over one-year period were collected from eight sites (with three different height levels) located mainly on the west coast of Mauritania, and the annual average of the wind characteristics were determined. Power density, Weibull parameters, turbulence indices, and power-law exponents were estimated based on seasonal and daily wind analyses. Comparative studies of the power density potential of the wind on different sites were also conducted while investigating the influence of seasons, height of the wind turbines, wind directional distributions, and daily characteristics. Investigations regarding the generated energy from the wind turbine and the related capacity factor were performed based on eight particular wind turbines (Ecotècnia-44, Ecotècnia-48, Nordex-N50, Neg-Micon, Vestas-V66, Power-Wind-90, Bonus-2MW, and Vestas-V90). Results showed that the power-law exponent was higher where the turbulence index was low. The analysis of the power distribution allowed concluding on the energy availability according to the influent variables. Findings of the present techno-economic analysis (for electricity generation from the planned wind energy systems) revealed that the best cost of energy (ranging from 0.0187 €/kWh to 0.0596 €/kWh) was observed for the wind turbine Ecotècnia-48 on all sites.

Optimizing methane recovery: Techno-economic feasibility analysis of N2-selective membranes for the enrichment of ventilation air methane

Utilization of the low concentration methane from coal-mining ventilation air is challenging but can significantly contribute to the mitigation of methane emissions to the atmosphere. This work focuses on the techno-economic feasibility analysis of N2-selective membrane systems for the enrichment of ventilation air methane (VAM). The feed methane concentration and gas permeance are found to significantly influence the specific methane enrichment cost, while feed pressure has the lest effect. For a stand-alone membrane system, the optimal methane recovery of ca. 70% is identified to achieve a higher methane purity at the same cost, which may gain an economic benefit when it is operated at high plant capacity. Although the SAPO-34 membrane system is technologically feasible for the enrichment of 1.5 vol% VAM, novel membranes with a higher N2/CH4 selectivity of greater than 25 is required to reduce the membrane stages for the pre-concentration of a very diluted VAM of <1 vol%. Considering a large-scale application in the methane recovery from the coal-mining ventilation air, carbon hollow fiber membranes may have the potential to address the challenges of the high production cost and the module up-scaling with large packing density that is faced by zeolite membranes.

Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis through Optimization Strategies and Load Shifting in Isolated Hybrid Microgrids with Renewable Energy for the Non-Interconnected Zone (NIZ) of Colombia

In developing countries, electrification in remote areas, where access to energy is limited or null, has been one of the biggest challenges in recent years. Isolated microgrids with renewable generation are an efficient alternative for the energy supply in these areas. The objective of this work was to analyse the techno-economic viability of 6 isolated microgrids in different locations in the non-interconnected zone of Colombia, considering different climatic conditions, the availability of renewable resources, the current consumption profile, and a modified profile applying demand-side management. Modelling and simulation were performed considering storage systems based on lithium and lead-acid batteries. The resulting simulations provide the optimal system cost, emissions levels, electricity cost and battery lifetime. This study demonstrates that isolated hybrid microgrids with renewable energy are a feasible alternative to solve access to energy problems, reducing the need for diesel generators and optimizing the use of renewable energies and battery-based storage systems.

Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of a Hybrid Renewable Energy Supply Options for University Buildings in Saudi Arabia

Abstract This study presents a detailed feasibility analysis of technical and financial assessment for grid-connected Hybrid Renewable Energy System (HRES) configurations by including grid-only, HRES-only and grid-HRES at four different provinces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), namely; (Al Baha University, University of Jeddah, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, and Tabuk University). The objective of this paper is to search the possibility of supplying the load demand with the optimum system that has the lowest net present cost (NPC) and greenhouse emission CO2. The simulation results show that NPC of a proposed grid/PV system, at the current grid’s tariff, is more sufficient than other configurations with a result in a renewable fraction of more than 50%, a payback time of 17 years, and 54.3% reduction in CO2. The results also show that the integration of 62 kW PV array with the main grid is the best configuration that leads to the minimum cost of energy (COE) of 0.0688 $/kWh and the sell back energy of 9.16% of total energy consumption at Al Baha University. Besides, optimization modeling addresses that HRES-only system can supply the full load demand without power shortage (&lt;0.1%) with a major contribution from solar PV by 78.5%, wind energy shares 11.3% of load demand, and 10.2% from battery banks. The developed analysis concludes that the objective function is feasible for the selected locations. The study has three novelties. Firstly, the required load at different locations of the university’s buildings at KSA is supplied by minimizing COE. The objective function is achieved by considering a combination of HRES. Then, it applies the sensitivity analysis for several cases such as payback time, gird’s tariff variation, and load demand change. Finally, the current analyses are applicable to any university at KSA and around the world.

Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of a Stand-Alone Photovoltaic System for Combined Aquaponics on Drylands

An open-field cultivation combined-type aquaponic system (OCAS) was developed to effectively utilize saline groundwater and prevent soil salinization while ensuring food production in drylands. To achieve the sustainable food production of the OCAS in power-scarce areas, a stand-alone photovoltaic system (PVS) for the OCAS was designed through a feasibility study of utilizing solar energy to meet its power demand. As a case study, the OCAS was established in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, with power consumption 22.72 kWh/day and annual average daily global horizontal irradiation (GHI) 6.12 kWh/m2/day, considering the 2017 meteorological data. HOMER software was employed for performance analysis and techno-economic evaluation of an appropriate PVS. Thousands PVS configurations were evaluated in terms of total net present cost (NPC) and levelized cost of energy (COE). The PVS that fulfilled the power demand and had the smallest NPC was proposed, for which the NPC and COE were calculated as $46,993 and $0.438/kWh, respectively. The relationship between its annual power supply and power demand of the OCAS was also analyzed in detail. It was found that the operation hours and the amount of power generation by the proposed PVS were 4156 h and 19,106 kWh in one year. Additionally, it was predicted that the excess power would occur almost every afternoon and reach 43% of the generated power. Therefore, the COE can be further reduced by rationally utilizing the excess power during operation.

Small-Scale Hybrid Photovoltaic-Biomass Systems Feasibility Analysis for Higher Education Buildings

Applications of renewable electricity in cities are mostly limited to photovoltaics, and they need other renewable sources, batteries, and the grid to guarantee reliability. This paper proposes a hybrid system, combining biomass and photovoltaics, to supply electricity to educational buildings. This system is reliable and provides at least 50% of electricity based on renewable sources. Buildings with small (&lt;500 kW) installed power based on renewables, mainly biomass, are usually expensive. Besides, in urban areas, photovoltaic capacity is limited due to roof availability. This paper analyzes different configurations, meeting these constraints to obtain an economically feasible solution based on photovoltaic-biomass modelling of small size hybrid systems. The technology used for biomass energy valorization is a fluidized bed gasification power plant, which has been modelled with real data obtained from experimental tests and previous research projects. Thereby, real costs and electric efficiency are included in the model. The techno-economic feasibility analysis using HOMER software with metered real load curves from an educational building has been modelled. The results of the model show that hybrid renewable systems are very feasible in the scenario of 50% of electricity contribution, however, higher contribution (&gt;70%) implies high electricity costs.

Techno-economic feasibility analysis of microwave-assisted biorefinery of multiple products from Australian lobster shells

Commercially valuable proteins, chitin, and minerals of Australian lobster shells were successfully produced with high yields and good quality at laboratory scale using a newly developed microwave-intensified biorefinery process. This study analyses the technical and economic feasibility of upscaling the process to industrial production using a process simulation software, SuperPro Designer. Upscaling is not only technically feasible but also financially profitable regardless of producing multiple products or a single product. At a processing scale of 222.5 tons lobster shells per year (150 kg/batch), total capital investment (TCI) required for the integrated biorefinery process is US$28.3 million compared with US$7.8–12.7 million of the single product production processes. The net present value (NPV) of the integrated biorefinery process reaches US$50.7 million while those NPVs of producing protein, minerals or chitin only are US$30.9 million, US$27.7 million, and US$26.4 million respectively, with all under 2.6 years for the payback time. Sensitivity analysis of the integrated process demonstrated that raw material cost and product price have significant impacts on profitability. The production process is still profitable at the cost of lobster shells up to US$10 per kg and the product selling price down to 25% of the proposed market prices.

AN EXTENDED ANALYSIS OF THE MODELS TO ESTIMATE PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE TEMPERATURE

To estimate the performance of the photovoltaic power systems is the key issue in their techno-economic feasibility analysis. Performances, on the other hand, strongly depends on the module temperatures of the photovoltaic systems. In this study, we evaluated the performance of ten different module temperature estimation models using the measured outdoor data of five different modules. The modules are installed at the rooftop of a building located at Central Anatolia where the climate is cold and semi-arid. The results showed that the models having smaller number of parameters perform better than the others. We concluded that such analysis should be carried out at different ambient conditions so that the best performing models for the site can be obtained. Another outcome of the study is that the seasonal evaluation of the performance of the models should be carried out.

A Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of an Autonomous Hybrid Renewable Energy Sources for University Building at Saudi Arabia

The objective of this treatise is to provide a detailed feasibility analysis of the hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) to supply sufficient energy to an autonomous college’s building et al. Baha University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The feasibility analysis presents technical and economic guises for the HRES which includes integrated sources of photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine, fuel cell, and batteries. The utilized real data of the island-building is gathered to support the feasibility analysis of the suggested system which includes monthly load consumption, climate data, and installation available space. The sensitivity analysis and the simulation consequences show that the hydrogen energy system reduces the support of the economic and the ecological factors for the HRES comparing with other resources. PV system also plays a considerable influence on the net present cost and the cost of energy of the system.

District cooling systems in Iranian energy matrix, a techno-economic analysis of a reliable solution for a serious challenge

Iran is a wide country with a variety of climates. In the summer, the temperature of the northern part of the country could reach up to about 50 °C at an extremely high humidity, which makes the use of evaporative cooling inappropriate. The existing solution is the use of standalone compression chillers at all the households. This puts much pressure on the electrical grid and massively costs the government to pay a considerable portion of the electricity bills of people as subsidy. This study proposes the implementation of district cooling systems in the northern part of Iran to address this challenge and presents a thorough techno-economic feasibility analysis of this proposal. For this, an arbitrary pattern for a small case study is manipulated, and all the thermodynamic simulations are carried out. The technical and economic results are then compared with those associated with the existing cold supply method. The results show that the development of district cooling systems with large-scale absorption chillers driven by fire-tube boilers can totally solve the electricity supply problem of this area. In addition, the economic analysis, based on the net present value method, reveals that the payback period can be as short as 6 years.

Techno-economic assessment of steel plant participation in DSM programs (case study: Iran’s industrial operational reserve program)

Industrial sector in each country consumes large amounts of total produced electrical energy. Hence, industrial customers with flexible loads are attractive targets for implementing demand-side management (DSM) programs. In recent years, Iranian energy ministry has applied an industrial operational reserve program (IORP) to reduce energy shortage during peak hours. This program has been developed to encourage industrial customers to participate in DSM programs, while steel plants show fewer tendencies to take part in these programs. In this paper, a techno-economic feasibility analysis of implementing IORP on steel plants, as the largest consumers of Iran’s industrial sector, is presented. For this purpose, first, the production process of a steel plant is modeled. Then, an optimization problem is developed to obtain the optimal scheduling of processes involved in producing steel through considering their technical and economic aspects. In order to solve the proposed problem which is mixed-integer nonlinear, Benders decomposition approach is used. Eventually, from the viewpoint of a steel plant owner, the profitability of taking part in IORP is investigated in three possible scenarios. The simulation results showed that steel plants can benefit from participating in IORP.

Urban energy system management for enhanced energy potential for upcoming smart cities

Scientific and industrial development has given rise to a rapidly increasing energy demand. Alternative and augmented energy resources are expected everywhere due to scarcity and depletion of other non-renewable resources. During recent years wind and solar had emerged as a promising cleaner energy source to offer a favourable solution with better efficiency. Hence, the attention has now diverted towards scaling up of hybrid system of energy generation. Numerous attempts have been taken to demonstrate the technological development concerning the requirement of the region. Whilst some research has already started to evaluate the working of the prototype, insignificant attention has been paid towards it. The current work also focuses on the simulation with hybrid urban renewable energy systems for techno-economic feasibility analysis. There were earlier attempts to report the advancement occurred in the technological, scientific and industrial sector due to hybrid renewable energy system. In some regard, it was an attempt to showcase the modelling of a typical urban requirement in an hourly load profile to identify in the energy potentials of the urban region. These will help to summarize the past, present and future trends of the hybrid energy system design, development and implementation for the urban region, which can be later on replicated to other parts of the world.

POTENTIAL AND FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS OF BIOMASS ENERGY FROM PALM OIL MILLS ON NORTH PENAJAM PASER REGENCY REGION OF THE NEW STATE CAPITAL INDONESIA

This paper presents a techno-economic potential and feasibility analysis on the planning of Biomass renewable energy from palm oil mills on the North Penajam Paser Regency. They were analyzed using the last three years of production data history from 7 Palm oil Processing Factories in the region and using questionnaires and interviews. Total processing fresh fruit brunch is about 891.624 tons/year. Total potential electricity generated from palm oil residue (Fiber, Shell, and Stem) is 28.009 kWh. The factories are located in Babulu, Waru, Penajam, and Sepaku.The assessment of sustainability indicators in this research is considering technology and economic aspects. The technology aspect evaluates the technical planning of installations that are possible to build in the area. For financial aspects of sustainability, evaluates the net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and, the payback period of renewable energy installation. This analysis is used to get a comprehensive insight from the potential biomass energy at the research location and conduct a feasibility study based on techno-economic analysis to develop new state capital Indonesia and the supporting regions.

Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity in Abandoned Underground Coal Mines

Abstract It is anticipated that utilizing the underground space in abandoned mines to build and operate pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH) plants can reduce capital investment and geological constraints. However, there are currently few detailed investigations into techno-economic feasibility except for conceptual studies. In this paper, an underground coal mine in Guizhou, China was used as a reference, and the PSH layout was designed; in addition, the head loss, plant efficiency, and major cost components were investigated. The calculation results show that the capital investment of mine-based PSH was 33–50% less than that of conventional PSH. Sensitivity analysis found a clear influence of coal seam inclination on the performance of the mine-based PSH. Under the assumed conditions, the plant cycle efficiency increased from 62.7% to 71.5% when the coal seam dip varied from 5 deg to 25 deg. Depending on different price scenarios, when the coal seam inclination was steep enough, the cost of energy storage of a mine-based PSH plant was competitive compared with conventional PSH, and the plant could even become profitable. The influence of the dip of coal seam was more pronounced when in the lower range (5–15 deg) than the higher range (15–25 deg).

Investigation of wind shear coefficients and their effect on annual energy yields along the coastal sites of Pakistan

Ten-year hourly recorded wind meteorological data at six sites along the coastline of Pakistan at two heights (10 and 50 m) were extrapolated to two higher heights (80 and 100 m). Monthly and seasonal analysis of variation in air density (ρ), wind speed, Weibull parameters ( K and C), wind power density, and wind energy density with height was investigated. Analysis shows that wind shear coefficient is highest in winter and lowest in summer. ρ, wind speed, wind power density, and wind energy density all increase with increasing hub height, with the most prominent increment in winter and the lowest in summer. With increasing height, K has been found to decrease slightly while C increases. Techno-economic feasibility analysis of annual energy production using 15 turbines was carried out which shows that capacity factor alone cannot render a turbine feasible but also economic assessment is mandatory to evaluate the feasibility of turbines. G1 and G2 turbines have been found the best options while B5 and V2 as the worst. Comparison among sites shows that Karachi is the most potential site with cost of energy of $0.017/kW h while Jiwani is the worst site with cost of energy of $0.039/kW h both at 100 m height.

Techno-Economic Feasibility and Spatial Analysis of Thermochemical Conversion Pathways for Regional Poultry Waste Valorization

This study examines prominent thermochemical conversion technologies, such as slow pyrolysis, fast pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal liquefaction, for treating poultry litter in New York State (NYS). Nine cases involving combinations of the four technologies and different downstream processing options such as bio-oil upgrading and Fischer–Tropsch conversion are chosen based on the product distribution. High-fidelity process simulations are performed to derive the mass and energy balance. Economic performance for the nine cases varied widely with largely overlapping net present values, ranging from $10MM to $170MM (slow pyrolysis), $89MM to $314.5MM (fast pyrolysis), $28MM to $196MM (hydrothermal liquefaction), and $25MM to $234MM (gasification). Both pyrolysis technologies had 18% to 56% lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than the other technologies. GHG balances showed trade-offs with economic performance. Sensitivity analysis identified carbon credits, products’ market price, and plant capacity as the most influential factors. Building one centralized biorefinery in NYS especially for fast pyrolysis was more economically feasible than building multiple smaller biorefineries (biochar breakeven price of −$128 to −$91/ton vs $74 to $93/ton). The trend for slow pyrolysis was similar but with comparatively little difference (biochar breakeven price of $59 to $96/ton for one biorefinery vs $76 to $91/ton for multiple biorefineries).