Feasibility assessment of introducing distributed energy resources in urban areas of China

In this study, based on the consideration of achieving a low-carbon city, a distributed energy system is promoted by integrating combined heat and power (CHP) plant, biomass energy and photovoltaic technology, for the urban areas in China. An analytical model has been developed for estimating an economically efficient installation and operation pattern for the distributed energy system. As an illustrative example, a numerical study is conducted of feasible distributed energy system for a model area in Shanghai, while considering five scenarios with different technology combinations. According to the simulation results, although enjoying reasonable environmental merits, it is hard to diffuse the distributed generation technologies, especially some renewable ones, in the model area from the economic point of view. Currently, the most feasible technology is the natural gas CHP system, which has a cost reduction ratio of only 0.7%. In addition, the sensitivity analyses illustrate that the introduction of electricity buy-back and the reduction of biogas price can promote the adoption of some renewable technologies to some extent.