Model of technoeconomic analysis of microcogeneration plant in residential sector

Liberalisation of the market and deregulation of energy prices in accordance with Acquis Communitaire are creating necessary presumptions for the use of distributed energy resources. It is expected that within such energy concept microcogeneration will be one of frequently used technologies. Use of microcogeneration offers advantage of higher efficiency resulting in lower fuel consumption and decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. Also, increasing the penetration of this technology can contribute to the security of energy supply that is especially important in certain regions of Croatia like Dalmatia and the islands, and in certain sectors like hospitals, hotels etc. On the other hand, relatively long periods of investment return and unfavourable legal and administrative issues represent major barriers for its broader application. In this paper, model m ; ; COGEN and results of technoeconomic analysis of microcogeneration plant model are presented. Residential unit in city of Zagreb is taken as an example of application. The plant would supply the building with electricity and thermal energy for heating and hot water consumption. Simulation of plant everyday operation is carried out within the model. Since installation of microcogeneration plant in residential objects makes sense only if it is economically viable, the main purpose of the model is carrying out economic analysis of the plant. Also, sensitivity analysis of relevant economic parameters is carried out to show how sensible are those parameters if electricity and fuel prices are being changed. Application of such model on actual object can be used as support for unit dimensioning and design as well as for providing useful information for decision-making and evaluation of investment possibilities in microcogeneration technology.