Scientific publications

 

All scientific publications published by ENERGICA partners will be available on this page.

Matchmaking in Off-Grid Energy System Planning: A Novel Approach for Integrating Residential Electricity Demands and Productive Use of Electricity

Nikolas Schöne, Tim Ronan Britton, Edouard Delatte, Nicolas Saincy, Boris Heinz

[Off-grid electrification planning increasingly recognizes the importance of productive use of electricity (PUE) to promote...]
Off-grid electrification planning increasingly recognizes the importance of productive use of electricity (PUE) to promote community value creation and (financial) project sustainability. To ensure a sustainable and efficient integration in the community and energy system, PUE assets must be carefully evaluated to match both the community needs and the residential electricity demand patterns. We propose a novel methodology interlinking qualitative interviews, statistical analysis and energy system modeling to optimize decision making for PUE integration in off-grid energy systems in rural Madagascar by aligning relevant PUE effectively with anticipated residential electricity demand patterns based on socio-economic determinants of the community. We find that a possible contribution of the PUE to reducing the electricity costs depends significantly on three factors: (1) The residential electricity consumption patterns, which are influenced by the socio-economic composition of the community; (2) The degree of flexibility of (i) PUE assets and (ii) operational preferences of the PUE user; and (3) The capacity of community members to finance and operate PUE assets. Our study demonstrates that significant cost reductions for PUE-integrated off-grid energy systems can be achieved by applying our proposed methodology. When matching PUE and residential consumption patterns, the integration of PUE assets in residential community energy systems can reduce the financial risk for operators, provided the PUE enterprise operates reliably and sustainably. We highlight that the consideration of local value chains and co-creation approaches are essential to ensure the energy system is addressing the community’s needs, creates value for the community, enhances the project’s financial sustainability and is achieving the overall objectives of decentralized energy system planning.
Keywords: rural electrification; productive use of electricity; off-grid; community energy; energy system planning; sustainable development; key informant interviews; energy system modeling; statistical analysis; co-creation
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Semi-Systematic Literature Review on the Contribution of Hydrogen to Universal Access to Energy in the Rationale of Sustainable Development Goal Target 7.1

Nikolas Schöne, Boris Heinz

[As part of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), SDG target 7.1 recognizes universal electrification...]
As part of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), SDG target 7.1 recognizes universal electrification and the provision of clean cooking fuel as two fundamental challenges for global society. Faltering progress toward SDG target 7.1 calls for innovative technologies to stimulate advancements. Hydrogen has been proposed as a versatile energy carrier to be applied in both pillars of SDG target 7.1: electrification and clean cooking. This paper conducts a semi-systematic literature review to provide the status quo of research on the application of hydrogen in the rationale of SDG 7.1, covering the technical integration pathways, as well as the key economic, environmental, and social aspects of its use.
Keywords: Sustainable Development Goal 7; electrification; clean cooking; hydrogen; semi-systematic review
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Techno-Economic Evaluation of Hydrogen-Based Cooking Solutions in Remote African Communities—The Case of Kenya

Nikolas Schöne, Raluca Dumitrescu, Boris Heinz

[Hydrogen has recently been proposed as a versatile energy carrier to contribute to archiving universal access...]
Hydrogen has recently been proposed as a versatile energy carrier to contribute to archiving universal access to clean cooking. In hard-to-reach rural settings, decentralized produced hydrogen may be utilized (i) as a clean fuel via direct combustion in pure gaseous form or blended with Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), or (ii) via power-to-hydrogen-to-power (P2H2P) to serve electric cooking (e-cooking) appliances. Here, we present the first techno-economic evaluation of hydrogen-based cooking solutions. We apply mathematical optimization via energy system modeling to assess the minimal cost configuration of each respective energy system on technical and economic measures under present and future parameters. We further compare the potential costs of cooking for the end user with the costs of cooking with traditional fuels. Today, P2H2P-based e-cooking and production of hydrogen for utilization via combustion integrated into the electricity supply system have almost equal energy system costs to simultaneously satisfy the cooking and electricity needs of the isolated rural Kenyan village studied. P2H2P-based e-cooking might become advantageous in the near future when improving the energy efficiency of e-cooking appliances. The economic efficiency of producing hydrogen for utilization by end users via combustion benefits from integrating the water electrolysis into the electricity supply system. More efficient and cheaper hydrogen technologies expected by 2050 may improve the economic performance of integrated hydrogen production and utilization via combustion to be competitive with P2H2P-based e-cooking. The monthly costs of cooking per household may be lower than the traditional use of firewood and charcoal even today when applying the current life-line tariff for the electricity consumed or utilizing hydrogen via combustion. Driven by likely future technological improvements and the expected increase in traditional and fossil fuel prices, any hydrogen-based cooking pathway may be cheaper for end users than using charcoal and firewood by 2030, and LPG by 2040. The results suggest that providing clean cooking in rural villages could economically and environmentally benefit from utilizing hydrogen. However, facing the complexity of clean cooking projects, we emphasize the importance of embedding the results of our techno-economic analysis in holistic energy delivery models. We propose useful starting points for future aspects to be investigated in the discussion section, including business and financing models.
Keywords: sustainable development goal 7; access-to-energy; clean cooking; hydrogen; electric cooking; LPG; rural remote communities; energy-X-nexus; energy system modelling 
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