Optimal design and operation of an urban energy system applied to the Fiera Del Levante exhibition centre

To move from centralised fossil fuel-based energy systems, synergies between distributed renewable generation, storage and demand-side strategies can be exploited to lower environmental impact and costs. This paper proposes an optimisation model for the techno-economic assessment of energy management strategies with a short-term investment horizon aimed at business managers and decision-makers in the commercial sector. The main novelty is the selection of a combination of on-site technologies and peak shaving strategies to minimise energy costs under time-of-use electricity tariffs, and the adaptation of a general methodology for a specific socio-technical context under seasonal loads. The “Fiera del Levante” exhibition centre in the city of Bari is selected due to the high seasonality of its electricity demand. The optimal solution uses a combined system with photovoltaics, diesel-fired and gas-fired combined-heat-and-power, including part-load operation and electric storage. The cost minimisation scenario reports up to 20% cost savings and 35% carbon emission savings with a 1MWp photovoltaic plant, compared to the baseline. This presents a five-year return on investment of 75%, and levelized cost of energy of €0.14 kWh−1. When coupled with a lithium-ion battery, solar energy brings up to 60% carbon emission savings through load shifting strategies, though this reduces the five-year return on investment by 9%. This hybrid setup is not financially competitive in the Italian retail market, but a hypothetical 25% rise of the grid import prices would make it economically viable. The proposed model is flexible and can be adapted to commercial end-users, providing decision-support in urban energy systems under local conditions.