IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i14p5512-d1198629.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technical–Financial Feasibility Study of a Micro-Cogeneration System in the Buildings in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriele Battista

    (Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, Roma TRE University, Via Vito Volterra 62, 00146 Rome, Italy)

  • Emanuele de Lieto Vollaro

    (Department of Architecture, Roma TRE University, Largo Giovanni Battista Marzi 10, 00154 Rome, Italy)

  • Andrea Vallati

    (Department of Ingegneria Astronautica, Elettrica ed Energetica, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy)

  • Roberto de Lieto Vollaro

    (Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, Roma TRE University, Via Vito Volterra 62, 00146 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

The current global context, marked by crises such as climate change, the pandemic, and the depletion of fossil fuel resources, underscores the urgent need to minimize waste. Cogeneration technology, which enables simultaneous production of electricity and thermal energy from electricity generation waste, offers a promising solution to enhance energy efficiency. Its widespread adoption, particularly in the European Union, where several cogeneration systems are in place, demonstrates its growing popularity. Italy alone has 1865 high-efficiency cogeneration units, contributing significantly to total cogeneration energy generation. Micro-cogeneration, specifically, has attracted attention for its potential to reduce energy waste and environmental impact. This study focuses on assessing the technical and financial feasibility of a micro-cogeneration plant using natural gas-fuelled internal combustion engines, considering different scenarios of plant operating strategies in order to optimize energy production, minimize waste, and mitigate environmental footprints associated with conventional methods. Additionally, it provides valuable guidance for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and decision-makers invested in sustainable energy solutions. By advancing micro-cogeneration technology, this study aims to promote a more sustainable and environmentally conscious approach to energy production. The methodology applied is based on the development of a numerical model via RETScreen Expert 8 and it was calibrated with one-year energy bills. The study was performed by focusing on the analysis of the annual energy savings, greenhouse gas emission savings, tonnes of oil equivalents savings, and financial parameters such as Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Profitability Index (PI) and Payback time (PBT). The results show, using a micro-cogeneration system in a big complex of buildings, that the financial parameters can continually increase with the plant’s capacity with the electrical load following, but with a loss of the recovered heat from the cogenerator because it may reach values that are not necessary for the users. When the thermal load variation is much more significant than the electrical load variation, it will be useful to design the plant to follow the thermal load variation which allows the full utilization of the thermal and energy production from the plant without any waste energy and choosing a system capacity that can optimize the energy, emissions and financial aspects.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriele Battista & Emanuele de Lieto Vollaro & Andrea Vallati & Roberto de Lieto Vollaro, 2023. "Technical–Financial Feasibility Study of a Micro-Cogeneration System in the Buildings in Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:14:p:5512-:d:1198629
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/14/5512/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/14/5512/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rabani, Mehrdad & Bayera Madessa, Habtamu & Mohseni, Omid & Nord, Natasa, 2020. "Minimizing delivered energy and life cycle cost using Graphical script: An office building retrofitting case," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    2. Glenn Jenkins & Chun-Yan Kuo & Arnold C. Harberger, 2011. "Cost-Benefit Analysis for Investment Decisions: Chapter 8 (The Economic Opportunity Cost of Capital)," Development Discussion Papers 2011-08, JDI Executive Programs.
    3. Nematchoua, Modeste Kameni & Marie-Reine Nishimwe, Antoinette & Reiter, Sigrid, 2021. "Towards nearly zero-energy residential neighbourhoods in the European Union: A case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Copiello, Sergio & Gabrielli, Laura & Bonifaci, Pietro, 2017. "Evaluation of energy retrofit in buildings under conditions of uncertainty: The prominence of the discount rate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 104-117.
    5. Wu, Zhibin & Xu, Jiuping, 2013. "Predicting and optimization of energy consumption using system dynamics-fuzzy multiple objective programming in world heritage areas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 19-31.
    6. Marta Bottero & Chiara D’Alpaos & Alessandra Oppio, 2019. "Ranking of Adaptive Reuse Strategies for Abandoned Industrial Heritage in Vulnerable Contexts: A Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-18, February.
    7. D'Agostino, Delia & Parker, Danny, 2018. "A framework for the cost-optimal design of nearly zero energy buildings (NZEBs) in representative climates across Europe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 814-829.
    8. Yang, Xiaoshan & Peng, Lilliana L.H. & Jiang, Zhidian & Chen, Yuan & Yao, Lingye & He, Yunfei & Xu, Tianjing, 2020. "Impact of urban heat island on energy demand in buildings: Local climate zones in Nanjing," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    9. Battista, Gabriele & de Lieto Vollaro, Emanuele & Grignaffini, Stefano & Ocłoń, Paweł & Vallati, Andrea, 2021. "Experimental investigation about the adoption of high reflectance materials on the envelope cladding on a scaled street canyon," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    10. Gabriele Battista & Luca Evangelisti & Claudia Guattari & Emanuele De Lieto Vollaro & Roberto De Lieto Vollaro & Francesco Asdrubali, 2020. "Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies: Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a University Campus in Rome (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-18, September.
    11. Ali, Usman & Shamsi, Mohammad Haris & Bohacek, Mark & Hoare, Cathal & Purcell, Karl & Mangina, Eleni & O’Donnell, James, 2020. "A data-driven approach to optimize urban scale energy retrofit decisions for residential buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    12. Li, Xiaoma & Zhou, Yuyu & Yu, Sha & Jia, Gensuo & Li, Huidong & Li, Wenliang, 2019. "Urban heat island impacts on building energy consumption: A review of approaches and findings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 407-419.
    13. Lee, Kyoung-Ho & Lee, Dong-Won & Baek, Nam-Choon & Kwon, Hyeok-Min & Lee, Chang-Jun, 2012. "Preliminary determination of optimal size for renewable energy resources in buildings using RETScreen," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 83-96.
    14. Remer, Donald S. & Nieto, Armando P., 1995. "A compendium and comparison of 25 project evaluation techniques. Part 1: Net present value and rate of return methods," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 79-96, November.
    15. Friedman, Chanoch & Becker, Nir & Erell, Evyatar, 2014. "Energy retrofit of residential building envelopes in Israel: A cost-benefit analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 183-193.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gabriele Battista & Emanuele de Lieto Vollaro & Luca Evangelisti & Roberto de Lieto Vollaro, 2022. "Urban Overheating Mitigation Strategies Opportunities: A Case Study of a Square in Rome (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Zhikun Ding & Rongsheng Liu & Zongjie Li & Cheng Fan, 2020. "A Thematic Network-Based Methodology for the Research Trend Identification in Building Energy Management," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-33, September.
    3. Dodoo, Ambrose & Gustavsson, Leif & Tettey, Uniben Y.A., 2017. "Final energy savings and cost-effectiveness of deep energy renovation of a multi-storey residential building," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 563-576.
    4. Meng, Fanchao & Zhang, Lei & Ren, Guoyu & Zhang, Ruixue, 2023. "Impacts of UHI on variations in cooling loads in buildings during heatwaves: A case study of Beijing and Tianjin, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    5. Long Pei & Patrick Schalbart & Bruno Peuportier, 2023. "Quantitative Evaluation of the Effects of Heat Island on Building Energy Simulation: A Case Study in Wuhan, China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-23, March.
    6. Aurora Greta Ruggeri & Laura Gabrielli & Massimiliano Scarpa, 2020. "Energy Retrofit in European Building Portfolios: A Review of Five Key Aspects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-38, September.
    7. Battista, Gabriele & de Lieto Vollaro, Emanuele & Ocłoń, Paweł & Vallati, Andrea, 2021. "Effect of mutual radiative exchange between the surfaces of a street canyon on the building thermal energy demand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    8. Bustos, F. & Toledo, A. & Contreras, J. & Fuentes, A., 2016. "Sensitivity analysis of a photovoltaic solar plant in Chile," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P1), pages 145-153.
    9. Jiao Xue & Ruoyu You & Wei Liu & Chun Chen & Dayi Lai, 2020. "Applications of Local Climate Zone Classification Scheme to Improve Urban Sustainability: A Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-14, September.
    10. Deng, Ji-Yu & Wong, Nyuk Hien & Zheng, Xin, 2021. "Effects of street geometries on building cooling demand in Nanjing, China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    11. Belaïd, Fateh & Ranjbar, Zeinab & Massié, Camille, 2021. "Exploring the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency implementation measures in the residential sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    12. Hillary Iruka Elegeonye & Abdulhameed Babatunde Owolabi & Olayinka Soledayo Ohunakin & Abdulfatai Olatunji Yakub & Abdullahi Yahaya & Noel Ngando Same & Dongjun Suh & Jeung-Soo Huh, 2023. "Techno-Economic Optimization of Mini-Grid Systems in Nigeria: A Case Study of a PV–Battery–Diesel Hybrid System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-21, June.
    13. Gao, Datong & Zhao, Bin & Kwan, Trevor Hocksun & Hao, Yong & Pei, Gang, 2022. "The spatial and temporal mismatch phenomenon in solar space heating applications: status and solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    14. Modeste Kameni Nematchoua, 2022. "Strategies for Studying Acidification and Eutrophication Potentials, a Case Study of 150 Countries," J, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-16, March.
    15. Mateusz Naramski & Adam R. Szromek, 2019. "Configuring a Trust-based Inter-organizational Cooperation Network for Post-industrial Tourist Organizations on a Tourist Route," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, June.
    16. Francesco Cappa & Fausto Del Sette & Darren Hayes & Federica Rosso, 2016. "How to Deliver Open Sustainable Innovation: An Integrated Approach for a Sustainable Marketable Product," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-14, December.
    17. Hanan S.S. Ibrahim & Ahmed Z. Khan & Shady Attia & Yehya Serag, 2021. "Classification of Heritage Residential Building Stock and Defining Sustainable Retrofitting Scenarios in Khedivial Cairo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-26, January.
    18. Ainur Tukhtamisheva & Dinar Adilova & Karolis Banionis & Aurelija Levinskytė & Raimondas Bliūdžius, 2020. "Optimization of the Thermal Insulation Level of Residential Buildings in the Almaty Region of Kazakhstan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-16, September.
    19. Magni, Carlo Alberto, 2016. "Capital depreciation and the underdetermination of rate of return: A unifying perspective," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 54-79.
    20. Liu, Yongjie & Huang, Zhiwu & Wu, Yue & Yan, Lisen & Jiang, Fu & Peng, Jun, 2022. "An online hybrid estimation method for core temperature of Lithium-ion battery with model noise compensation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:14:p:5512-:d:1198629. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.