Optimal planning of hybrid renewable energy infrastructure for urban sustainability: Green Vancouver

Despite the great promise of hybrid solar-wind-biomass energy systems to power future sustainable cities, complexities associated with their optimal planning and design limit their wide-scale implementation. This study provides a novel systematic framework to identify optimal hybrid renewable solutions for urban areas at neighborhood scales. In particular, we examine the role of economies of scale in the techno-economic feasibility and environmental performance of hybrid renewable systems. For demonstration, we assess the impact of the economics of scale (at the neighborhood scales of 1/500, 1/250, and 1/100 of the city's electrical load) on the life-cycle costs of optimal hybrid renewable systems for Vancouver (Canada). Our results indicate that the total net present cost (NPC) of the optimized systems were 59, 116 and 290 million USD, while the levelized costs of electricity (COE) for the three studied scales were almost identical (0.300–0.307 USD/kW h). By comparing the proposed scenarios regarding gross atmospheric emissions, land requirements and economic performance, the mid-scale (1/250) with 6.3 MW of solar PV and 3 MW gasifier (~ 117 t/day biomass wastes) was preferable to the larger (1/100) and smaller (1/500) scale systems. Results from this study can help decision-makers in creating effective policies and mechanisms to advance the integration of hybrid renewable energy systems in cities.