Analysis of a fuel cell combined heat and power plant under realistic smart management scenarios

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells are a promising and mature technology for combined heat and power plants. High efficiency (in particular for small size devices), practically zero pollutant emissions, noiseless operation and fast response to transient demand make these energy systems excellent prime movers for residential and commercial application. Nevertheless, due to large capital costs, their utilization and commercialization are still limited to demonstrative projects. In this scenario, we are working on a research project, called AutoRe, which utilizes an automotive derivative fuel cell for a cogeneration plant to create a synergy between two non competitive industries (automotive and stationary plants) and to realize a significant economy of scale that will drastically cut the costs of fuel cell based cogenerative plants. In this paper, we perform a thorough techno-economic analysis of the AutoRe (AUTomotive deRivative Energy system) power plant. A number of realistic energy management scenarios are constructed by varying the energy demand, the climatic condition, the energy cost, and the efficiency of the surrounding energy system. The control strategy is determined on an hourly basis, by minimizing the cost or the primary energy consumption through a graph based methodology. The resulting global parameters are compared to a reference scenario where electricity is acquired from the grid and heat is locally produced through a natural gas boiler. We consider 5 different building types (Office, Apartment district, Clinic, Hotel, Supermarket), 5 different climatic conditions (Hot, Cooling Based, Moderate, Heating based, Cold), and 2 different surrounding energy systems (USA and Europe). The results show that overall the proposed plant is economically sustainable and effective in reducing the energy costs and the primary energy consumption. Nevertheless, the building type and the energy prices impact on the return on investment, while the climatic condition affects the relative cost and energy variations. In the US scenario, the management based on cost and primary energy minimization exhibits similar patterns. On the contrary, in Europe cost minimization might increase the primary energy consumption with respect to the reference scenario.