A Comprehensive Review On Renewable Energy Integration For Combined Heat and Power Production

Energy Conversion and Management 224 (2020) 113454
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman
A comprehensive review on renewable energy integration for combined

heat and power production
Mohammad Ali Bagherian, Kamyar Mehranzamir *
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor,
Malaysia
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Renewable energy sources have gained prominence due to sustainability and less environmental impacts. With
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) increasing energy consumption and depleting fossil fuel sources, emphases have been given to develop
Renewable Energy Source (RES) environmental-friendly energy systems and expand renewable energy penetration. In this regard, energy inte
Thermodynamic Analysis
gration systems, that can satisfy energy demands in various forms, are considered as a viable approach for
Hybrid Energy System (HES)
Economic Dispatch and Scheduling
increasing the utilization of renewable resources and improving the efficiency of generation. Over the past de
Integrated Energy System (IES) cades, combined heat and power systems have been associated with energy savings and less environmental
consequences. To this end, these systems attracted research community for further investigations and de
velopments of renewable-based combined heat and power configurations in residential as well as industrial
sector. In this study, energy generation by means of renewable resources including: solar, wind, and geothermal
when operated as a cogeneration system, or integrated with a combined heat and power system is reviewed. The
primary objectives of this study are to analyze the performance of most recent state-of-the-art designs, and
present a comprehensive review that underlines the current research trends in the field of solar, wind, and
geothermal energies. This review attempts to elaborate on integration of single or multiple renewable energies in
combined heat and power systems. In this regard, preliminary research works are classified based on utilization
of renewable resources in single and multiple integration. Further classifications are carried out based on the
most cited research trends in that particular renewable energy field, in order to realize the current research
objectives and the challenges every renewable field is facing today. Every presented system is evaluated in terms
of implemented components, employed methods, and the objectives as well as key findings. This method of
classification results in three primary research focuses including: model development and application in solar-
integrated systems, thermo-economic optimization in geothermal-integrated systems, and scheduling and
minimizing curtailment in wind-integrated systems. Finally, the future perspective of this field is proposed based
on the current status of renewable integration to facilitate more effective and feasible operation in the future.
that the governments around the world have been facing in the recent
years, today, sustainable development is the center of attention and
1. Introduction there are considerable funding opportunities and investments on
renewable energies. In the global market, renewables have been
The increasing amount of Carbon Dioxide in the air and global expanding significantly in the electricity sector, supplying almost 24%
warming have urged the research community and industry to emphasize of power demand by 2017. This trend will continue to increase reaching
the importance of generating power and heat more efficiently and almost 30% of global electricity demand by end of 2020, with hydro
environmental-friendly [1]. Replacing conventional power generation power being the primarily one [3]. Even though renewable power was
to achieve energy security and environmental protection are the main responsible for 70% of global power generation capacity in 2017, the
focus of industrialized countries such as the USA, China, and Europe on carbon dioxide level experienced 1.4% increase in that year. This was
sustainability [2]. The energy demand projection for the case of 2040 is the result of robust global economic growth, lower fossil fuel prices and
almost 50% higher than today’s demand. With all the negative disas weaker energy efficiency efforts [4]. With the increasing energy
trous impacts that fossil fuels introduced, and all the controversial views
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: kecy6mab@nottingham.edu.my (M.A. Bagherian), Kamyar.Mehranzamir@nottingham.edu.my, k.mehranzamir@yahoo.com (K. Mehranzamir).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113454
Received 12 May 2020; Received in revised form 6 August 2020; Accepted 15 September 2020
Available online 2 October 2020
0196-8904/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M.A. Bagherian and K. Mehranzamir Energy Conversion and Management 224 (2020) 113454
Abbreviations ORC Organic Rankine Cycle

CHP Combined Heat and Power DHW Domestic Hot Water
DG Distributed Generation FCS Fixed Choice strategy
GWH Geothermal Water Heating SOFC Solid Oxide Fuel Cell
CCHP Combined Cooling Heat and Power EES Electrical Energy Storage
SG Steam Generator ROS Robust Optimal Strategy
PSO Particle Swarm Optimization TES Thermal Energy Storage
RES Renewable Energy Sources
PV/T Photovoltaic Thermal Nomenclature
nZED nearly Zero-Energy District T [◦ C] temperature
PTC Parabolic Trough Collector m˙ [kg/s] mass flow rate
SSA Squirrel Search Algorithm p [bar] pressure
MILP Mixed-Integer Linear Programming C [$] cost
GDHS Geothermal District Heating System P [W] power
OTEC Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Q [W] heat
PSHT Pumped Storage Hydrothermal NPV [MEUR] Net Present Value
MT Micro-Turbine LCOE [EUR/MWh] Levelized Cost of Electricity
LCC Life Cycle Cost Subscript
CSPSO Chaotic Starling Particle Swarm Optimization b Brine
MGO Microgrid Operator inj Injection State
MPC Model Predict Control out Outlet
EMS Energy Management System supply Supply State DH System
NPV Net Present Value return Return State DH System
BEES Battery Electrical Energy Storage prod Production State
DS Deterministic Strategy e Electrical
CHPO Combined Heat, Power and Oil Recovery th Thermal
LCOE Levelized Cost of Electricity opt Optimal
DH District Heating EPC Engineering, Procurement, and Construction
STC Standard Test Conditions O&M Operation and Maintenance
REG Renewable Energy Generation mid Intermediate DH Water
PT Photothermal env Environment
CSP Concentrating Solar Panel
VRE Variable Renewable Energy
consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are bound to increase Reducing fossil fuel consumption in the global market, particularly
even higher in the following years. The important fact that should be expanding renewable generation, has been a great challenge for the
considered is that renewable development for power generation is not energy community [6]. Renewable sources come in various forms such
the answer to all the problems. This was realized in the past decade as as sunlight, wind, rain, tides of ocean, biomass, and geothermal, which
the GHG concentration increased despite a significant growth in can be replenished naturally [7]. Renewable energies are a form of en
renewable generation. For the energy-related emissions to decrease ergy that generates directly or indirectly from these resources [7,8].
significantly, there is a need to go beyond the power market. In other Today, renewable energy sources (RES) has become a significant aspect
sectors, providing energy is still primarily acquired by burning fossil in the energy transition and the mission-related policies [9]. By 2017,
fuels (Fig. 1 (a)), for example, in the heating and transportation sectors, RES was responsible for the majority of EU generating capacity at 17.5%
though these two sectors combined make up around 80% of the total share of energy, a doubling of the share attained in 2004 at just 8.5%
global energy demand, renewables are only accountable for 10.3% and [10]. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) indicates that
3.4% of energy supply, respectively [5]. the renewable energies are the cheapest source of electricity generation
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the conventional energy generation (a) and combined heat and power generation (b).
2
in most parts of the world. The average cost of electricity production technique can significantly improve thermodynamic performance by
from all commercially available renewable technologies, such as increasing the overall efficiency of system, and result in higher economic
concentrating solar power (CSP), bioenergy, and onshore wind turbines, benefits than stand-alone systems by supplying a secondary product and
descended over the past few years and will continue to do so in the providing a higher revenue.
future [11]. In this study, emphases are given to provide a precise and thorough
The industrial revolution provided a new concept of mechanization review on renewable energy integration for cogeneration application. In
in energy generation and the whole spectrum of industry. It was not until this context, it is attempted to fill the gap in the literature by elaborating
the beginning of the 20th century, when engineers realized that the on renewable-based CHP systems which utilize solar, wind, and
waste heat from power generation could be recovered and stored to geothermal resources as auxiliary source of energy, or directly as fuel for
supply thermal energy during winter for residential application, or could generation. The main intention of this study is to answer the questions
be utilized for manufacturing processes in the industry [12]. This concerning the current status of renewable development for energy
method of power and heat generation was soon gained considerable integration. It is to realize the primary objectives for exploitation of
attention, and the systems operating based on this principle was intro renewable energies, and the challenges that the research community are
duced as combined heat and power (CHP) or cogeneration systems. CHP trying to face in every renewable field. In the following six sections, the
systems have been known as energy efficient units due to their capability importance of this study, the current status of renewable energies in the
of sequential power and heat generation from a single fuel source [13]. power and heat market, and the future perspectives of this field are
In cogeneration process, waste thermal energy can be recovered in order discussed in detail. The present study contributes to renewable devel
to produce another form of energy or product. Considering a situation opment for cogeneration application by:
where an ignite-based engine drives a generator that produces elec
tricity, with implementation of a heat exchanger the waste heat exiting • Determining the primary research trends in the field of solar,
out of the engine in form of hot exhaust can be captured and the heat can geothermal, and wind integration for CHP application, and classi
be recovered to produce steam, hot water, or process heat [14]. This fying the preliminary works accordingly.
principle of operation differentiates CHP facilities from other central • Evaluating the most recent studies based on implemented compo
ized power plants, and it allows more efficient utilization of fuel to a nents, performance of the system, and employed materials and
point, where the overall efficiency can reach up to 90% [15]. The pre methods.
liminary studies have shown that the energy integration approach, such • Realizing the objectives and key findings of state-of-the-art research
as CHP, is associated with lower consumption of primary energy sources works.
as well as significant reduction in GHG emissions [12,16]. It is one of the • Elaborating on future perspectives and possible integration of other
most effective technologies in fuel diversification, decarbonization, and sources of clean energy for power and heat production.
improving operational flexibility with least economic and environ
mental consequences [14,17,18]. CHP systems are classified based on Section 2 presents a summary of the preliminary review-papers and
the prime mover technology, plant size, and energy sequence as follow: underlines the novelty and importance of this work. The reviewed
studies in this paper are the state-of-the-art research works that elabo
• Prime Mover rated on single or multiple integration of renewable sources for power
○ Steam Turbine (ST) and heat generation. In Section 3, studies are first categorized based on
○ Gas Turbine (GT) the renewable sources and their sole integration in CHP systems. Further
○ Micro-Turbine (MT) classification is carried out based on systematic literature searching
○ Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) which illustrates the primary research trends in the field of solar,
○ Stirling Engine (SE) geothermal, and wind energies. In each sub-section, preliminary studies
○ Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) are analyzed in terms of implemented components, employed materials
○ Fuel Cell (FC) and methods, and the overall performance of the system. Similar method
• Energy Sequence of classification and assessment is being employed in Section 4 in order
○ Topping Cycle (Electricity generation being the priority) to investigate integration of multiple renewable energies in CHP sys
○ Bottoming Cycle (Heating generation being the priority) tems. This section determines the primary objectives for renewable
• Plant Size development based on cogeneration principle, highlights the preferable
○ Micro-scale (less than 50 kW ) renewable sources for multiple integration, and presents compressed air
e
○ Small-scale (60 kW to 1.5MW ) energy storage (CAES) as a method of clean generation for cogeneration
e e
○ Large-scale (1MW to hundreds of MW ) application. Subsequently in Section 5, potential topics for future
e e
research works are being investigated thoroughly. This section elabo
Cogeneration is a compelling approach that allows harvesting energy rates on the future research direction and importance of every renew
more efficiently. With the upward trend of renewable penetration, the able energy in the future energy integrated market. Conclusion is given
integration of CHP and RES is one of the promising strategies towards in Section 6.
energy transition (Fig. 1 (b)). The combination of CHP and renewables
makes for a very strong proposition since it provides fuel efficiency and 2. Literature review
clean generation [8]. Although, the large-scale integration of renewable
resources, particularly wind and solar, requires operational flexibility so This section looks into well-cited review-papers which elaborated on
as to balance the supply and demand mismatches, resulting from the the integration and operation of renewable energies with CHP systems.
fluctuations in the energy production [19]. Improving the flexibility of Preliminary review-papers are selected and reviewed using systematic
the energy system along with increasing the renewable penetration literature searching in order to provide a precise and thorough literature
would potentially solve the associated problems with the market review. With this regard, various journals were screened based on a set
mechanism and technical difficulties to integrate variable renewable of criteria targeting primary keywords, contributions to the main field,
generation with the existing power systems [20]. It is critical to imple citation index, and year of publication in that respective order. Majority
ment a flexible energy system that can absorb the fluctuations in a of reviewed studies are focused on the integration of one renewable
resource efficient way, in which CHP plays a vital role in this matter source, particularly solar or biomass, and presenting different configu
[19]. Utilizing renewable resources as fuel for power and heat genera rations or methods of utilization was their main contribution.
tion can be a step closer towards achieving a zero-carbon society. This Much work on the potential of solar energy for cogeneration
3
applications and the evaluation of prime movers in CHP systems was was another important subject that was assessed in this study. Con
carried out in Ref. [21]. The authors investigated different micro-CHP cerning the current barriers facing cogeneration technologies, Ref. [32]
models which utilized biomass, solar energy, and fuel cells to generate presented a summary of the current developments in cogeneration
electricity and heat. In terms of solar collector and photovoltaic (PV) sector. Apart from evaluating the available prime movers, this study
systems based on cogeneration concept, authors in Ref. [22] critically reviewed the applications and economic and environmental impacts of
reviewed this method of implementation. Modeling development and CHP systems in the US. Thornton and Monroy discussed the government
economic analysis were the primary aspects in this study in order to regulations and incentives, which encouraged the private energy sector
highlight the current gaps in this technology. A precise review of solar- to implement distributed generation (DG).
based CHP plants was presented in Ref. [23], pointing out fully As it is presented in Table 1, majority of review-papers are focused on
renewable plants in Denmark. The authors carried out a comparative a particular renewable source and its integration in different CHP con
analysis between the available models that were utilizing PV modules, figurations for certain applications. To understand the current status of
solar flat plates, ground heat pumps, biomass burner, and Organic RES-CHP systems, realize the challenges and research questions, and
Rankine Cycle (ORC). Different methods of waste heat recovery in solar determine the primary focuses in the field of renewable energy, a
and geothermal power plants were reviewed and evaluated in Ref. [24]. comprehensive review is provided in this study. The main intention is to
This article did not mention any CHP unit in particular, but rather provide a thorough and precise review of available CHP models that are
elaborating on waste heat recovery methods and techniques during utilizing single or multiple renewable energies, fully or partially. In this
power generation. Both thermodynamic and economic analysis of such context, the structure and performance of state-of-the-art RES-CHP
technique were reviewed and discussed in this paper. The authors also models are explained and evaluated in terms of components, operation
highlighted the future research direction of this field as well. Concerning and in-depth results. Given that every renewable energy source elabo
residential heating application, a review of model-based analysis was rates on a particular field of study, it is attempted to realize the most
delivered in Ref. [25]. The advantages of deploying heat pumps and recent and well-cited research focuses in solar, wind, and geothermal
thermal storage units were investigated and discussed. The novelty of field, when such sources are utilized in a system that can generate power
this review on identifying the renewable energy potentials in district as well as heat simultaneously. This presents the opportunity to deter
heating (DH) networks is worth mentioning as well. Similarly in mine the current research trends and comprehend the challenges as well
Ref. [26], the importance of solar energy potential in DH networks was as key findings associated with utilization of every renewable energy.
presented in case of Finland. The authors discussed that one of the most This method of classification illustrated that, model development and
utilized RES to achieve nearly zero-energy districts (nZED) is PV- the application of solar-based CHP systems, thermo-economic optimi
thermal (PV/T). The use of low-temperature distribution for a smooth zation of geothermal-based CHP systems, and solving the economic
transition towards nZED was investigated in this article. It was shown dispatch problem and curtailment in wind-based CHP systems are of
that the deployment of solar thermal heating systems along with heat utmost importance to the research community.
pumps in a DH network with CHP plants increases the flexibility of
electricity network. The significant advantages of installing solar- 3. Utilization of renewable energies for cogeneration
thermal with thermal energy storage (TES) units were highlighted as application (Single integration)
such integration could reduce both energy consumption and annual cost.
More precise review on micro-CHP units and their deployment for res Cogeneration technologies are established for simultaneous pro
idential applications was proposed in Ref. [27]. This study evaluated the duction of power and heat. With regards to the principle of cascading
micro-CHP systems with regards to the implemented prime mover utilization of energy, the potential energy within renewable sources can
technologies. Further investigations were carried out to determine the be utilized in three ways namely: prime mover, electricity source, and/
renewable energy association with this type of system and their benefits or heat source (Fig. 2) [8]. Integrating RES as a prime mover unit in CHP
in supplying residential energy demand. The authors pointed out the systems is a guaranteed solution to reduction of CO2 emissions,
marketing and potential developments of each prime mover in micro- increasing energy efficiency, and lowering fuel consumption. Although,
CHP systems. Similar review on micro-CHP technologies was conduct this process is limited by availability of RES, unstable output of
ed by authors in Ref. [28]. Unlike the previous study, the review was not renewable generation, and high investment and maintenance cost. This
focused on residential applications only. A comparative analysis was technique is mostly suitable for high temperature cycles such as natural
carried out between the available models and conventional methods of gas-based, solar collectors, and high-temperature geothermal sources
generation, and utilizing RES in micro-CHP systems was discussed. [33–44].
In a thorough assessment, Alexandros Arsalis conducted an in-depth Aforementioned, variable renewable generation (VRG) is associated
review on fuel cell (FC) integrations with CHP systems [1]. He catego with curtailments that are becoming more widespread as the integration
rized all types of fuel cells and discussed the performance and benefits of of RES is increasing around the world [45]. Limited predictability of
each type. The future perspectives and developments of this method of power production exploiting RES, particularly wind and solar, results in
generation were presented as well. In an alternative approach, a critical power fluctuations [20]. To balance the supply and demand mis
review was published to assess the utilization of biomass syngas in CHP matches, either CHP units can be employed as an assisted energy source
operated solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems [29]. Apart from the cur or renewable technologies can be used as auxiliary energy systems to
rent status and future perspectives of this technology, different types of support power production by cogeneration units [8]. Such structures can
anode materials were discussed in detail. Considering biomass as one of decrease fossil fuel consumption and most importantly increase
the most utilized RES for cogeneration applications, Hosseini and Abdul renewable penetration and overall flexibility [46–52].
Wahid emphasized the developments of biogas combustion in CHP In this section, preliminary studies are first classified into three pri
systems [30]. In this review article, various biogas combustion tech mary groups including: Solar Energy, Geothermal Energy, and Wind
niques were investigated and compared. The advantages of each of four Energy. Further, the current research direction of every renewable field
methods were pointed out, and more precisely, the environmental im is determined using the systematic literature searching method. In this
pacts were inspected. Integration of SOFC with gas turbines can be regard, each group is classified further to present the most recent
implemented in various configurations. The higher efficient and research trends in solar, wind, and geothermal energy fields. The sys
economically feasible layouts were reviewed and evaluated in Ref. [31]. tematic literature searching and selection of state-of-the-art research
The review was focused on possible SOFC-gas turbine configurations works were based on a set of criteria every renewable field. Important
including: HAT turbines, IGCC SOFC/GT power plants, and ORC cycles. criteria for selecting studies were the type of utilized renewable sources,
The possibility of biomass consumption in hybrid SOFC/GT facilities use of keywords and highlights, the overall objectives, contributions to
4
Table 1
Comparison between the current work and the preliminary review-papers.
Research focus Current work [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [1] [29] [30] [31] [32]
Solar energy ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ × × × ✓ ✓
Wind energy ✓ × × ✓ × ✓ × × ✓ × × × ✓ ✓
Geothermal energy ✓ × × ✓ ✓ × × × × × × × × ×
Biomass energy × ✓ × × × × × × × ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
CHP in DH networks ✓ × × × ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ × ✓ ×
CHP in MG networks ✓ × × × × ✓ × × × ✓ × × ✓ ×
CHP in industry ✓ × ✓ × ✓ × × × × × × × ✓ ✓
CHP configuration ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ × × × ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Results ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ × × ✓ ✓ ✓ × ✓ ×
Fig. 2. Block diagram of available technologies for power and heat generation in a CHP plant.
the field, and publication year. Selected studies are reviewed in terms of 3.1.1. Microgrid application
the overall objectives, implemented design, employed materials and One of the best approaches when constructing a distributed gener
methods, and obtained results. The presented summary of preliminary ation network, is the integration of subsystems known as microgrids
research works elaborates on the understanding of the current status of (MG). In such networks, the operation can be divided into grid-mode
RES-CHP systems in the energy sector and pave the way for future and island-mode; while the MG can be connected directly to the utility
research projects and developments. grid to supply the energy demand, it can also switch to the island-mode
to take advantage of distributed generation within the network, poten
3.1. Solar energy tially by each prosumer. This functionality of MGs would allow cleaner
generation, reduction of emissions, and financial benefits [58].
First-generation CHP technologies were commonly deployed to Currently, development of MGs is facing significant challenges
fulfill electricity and heating demands. In today’s power systems, new regarding technical implementation, control strategy, and protections.
techniques are adopted to provide flexibility for electrical grid in case of In this regard, authors in Ref. [57] investigated the effectiveness of
variable renewable generation while satisfying other energy demands implementing photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) technologies in integration
such as heating or cooling [53]. Solar systems can be developed to with microgrid networks, consisting of CHP units. The study intended to
generate both electrical (PV) and thermal energies (PV/T). High- replace the conventional PV systems with the suggested PV/T-CHP
temperature solar cycles such as parabolic dish and central tower are model. Authors formulated a multi-party energy management using
capable of producing steam and running steam generators [54–56], Stackelberg game in order to promote prosumer concept and improve
while on the other hand, low-temperature cycles such as flat plates can the economic benefits of MG development. The microgrid operator
be installed as auxiliary electricity sources for flexibility and clean (MGO) was consisted of microturbine (MT), auxiliary boiler, TES unit,
generation purposes [35,57]. Vast majority of research works over the and energy management system (EMS) (Fig. 3). In the proposed power
past decade are focused on model development and optimization of systems, the MGO was operating as a leader, while PV/T prosumers were
solar-integrated CHP systems. Currently, expanding the applications of considered as followers. For each prosumer, installation of rooftop PV/T
solar energy into different sectors is the primary objective of many panels, smart meters, electric and heat loads, and building energy
research works. This includes development of solar PV panels for off- management system (BEMS) was considered in the proposed structure.
grid electrification and distributed generation in microgrids, and use The main contribution of this research was the formulated framework
of solar thermal collectors and solar water heaters for DH applications. for energy price estimation based on four different prosumers roles, and
Moreover, economic analysis and optimization was another important its novelty was the capability of prosumers in bidirectional energy (both
topic that was given emphasis to. electricity and heat) sharing. To validate the efficacy of the proposed
model an algorithm was employed in the MG system with six households
acting as prosumers. In accordance with the simulation results, the
5
Fig. 3. Schematic representation of the proposed microgrid network [57].
system illustrated that the solar energy generation was at its maximum Fig. 4. Variation in the cost of microgrid system by changing the number of
during hours 8 to 18, which corresponded to the off-peak period. During generating units [35].
this time, the system was capable of storing and selling the excess energy
(both power and heat); therefore, increasing the prosumer’s profit which cause hesitations for further development. Hybrid energy systems
greatly. Furthermore, optimizing the control strategy resulted in higher operating on cogeneration mode are a valuable means of supplying
financial benefits for the power grid since the price for selling electricity energy demands to off-grid residences. To show the technical feasibility
was increased, while its buying price was reduced and maintained of such CHP-integrated hybrid systems, authors in Ref. [59] simulated a
consistent throughout the day. Additionally, it was illustrated that the configuration comprising of PV arrays, battery storage, and CHP units in
suggested system could offer 39% to 43% higher revenue in comparison three different regions of the US. The objective was to fulfill the elec
with several preliminary models. tricity demand in Prescott (hot climate), Sacramento (moderated
Using an alternative approach, authors in ref [35] scheduled a cost climate), and Houghton (cold climate). Although no technical specifi
minimization problem for a microgrid network which was comprised of cation of the PV arrays was provided, the sizing of energy system was
PV panels, CHP generators, and local heating units. The main intention carried out based on Ref. [60], and the overall efficiency of the Standard
was to develop an uncertainty model that would be capable of capturing Test Conditions (STC) was assumed to be 17.3%. The proposed cogen
the fluctuations in a solar energy system; therefore, solving the con eration system was a conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)
straints problem using a robust optimization technique. The fluctuating operating on natural gas along with induction motors. In terms of
energy price was introduced as the main objective function which was electrical energy storage, determination of the battery size was done
solved using mixed-integer linear programming (MILP). The results based on the excess power production for the case of Prescott, Sacra
illustrated significant cost savings and operating costs reduction by mento and Houghton that corresponded to the values of 41.17 kWh,
means of CHP integration. In this study, solar generation was measured 38.47 kWh, and 57.575 kWh, respectively. Concerning the environ
as a non-positive demand, and it was indicated as a random variable mental and financial perspectives, the CHP unit was properly sized to
with unknown probability distribution. The simulation results proved maximize the efficiency of the overall system, while resulting in least
that the uncertainty of solar energy generation had negligible influence environmental impacts and financial expenses. The sizing was per
on the financial risks of the system. It was found that the integration of formed by taking residential heat demand, electrical energy profile, gas
CHP system with solar panels could reduce the cost of microgrid system price, and electricity rates into consideration. The PV module was the
by 6.05% in comparison with the stand-alone power system. In the primary component of this configuration to ensure constant electricity
conducted case study, the maximum CHP capacity was measured at half supply. If the generated power was to exceed the required demand, the
of the peak demand (60 MWe), and the optimal number of generators to extra energy would be stored in battery units. On the contrary, during
meet this demand was 8 units (Fig. 4). Further, the authors contem insufficient solar radiation the energy storage system had to be activated
plated three different scheduling strategies for the microgrid system and so as to fulfill the load demand. The system was capable of satisfying
compared the associated costs. This included robust optimal strategy 70%, 56%, and 20% of the heating demand for the case of Prescott,
(ROS), Fixed Choice strategy (FCS), and Deterministic strategy (DS). As Sacramento and Houghton, respectively. During winter, particularly in
it was illustrated by the simulation results, ROS could achieve the Houghton, a joint operation of both CHP and PV systems were accounted
highest cost saving ratio amongst other techniques. This method of for since the thermal demand was high. The study demonstrated the
optimization illustrated a significant reduction in the cost of microgrid significant effectiveness of off-grid hybrid energy systems for residential
system in case of any increase in heat-to-power ratio. applications, combining power and heat generation by means of PV,
BESS, and CHP units. The authors provided a valid opportunity for the
3.1.2. Off-grid electrification application US to transit from centralized grid to distributed generation, while
Remote areas are associated with high GHG emissions due to the fact reducing emissions and fuel consumption. Similar configuration was
that no clear policies are governing such areas concerning energy gen investigated further concerning its economic feasibility in relatively
eration and its environmental impacts. Thus, in majority of locations low-income areas of Michigan [61]. The study evaluated the perfor
diesel and other forms of fossil fuels are responsible for supplying energy mance of off-grid system from the economic perspective so as to deter
demands. Another important factor that holds back the implementation mine the capability of integrated structure in generation of low-cost
of renewable energies in off-grid locations is the absence of financial electricity, compared to the conventional grid-tied scenario. The authors
investments and economic viability. Renewable technologies are costly, took the research further by considering the financial ability of house
holds in low-income regions. They found that, only in presence of
6
economically viable systems defecting from the grid could be a viable

approach. The objective was to estimate the number of homeowners in
the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan for which it was financially viable
to invest in off-grid hybrid systems. The projected results indicated that,
as of 2020 almost 82% of homeowners are potentially grid defectors that
would be capable of generating their own electricity. The implemented
design was similar to the approach taken by Mundada et al. [59]. The
solar energy system was deployed to generate as much electricity as
possible throughout the year without taking the variations in the con
sumption into account. Although, the potential prosumers were more
incentive to adopt an optimal design where the power demand was
satisfied by PV system throughout the entire year. To this end, the PV
module was assumed to be a 30-degree tilt with south facing arrays
providing 3.8 kWh/m2. The suggested design was responsible for almost
66% of annual power generation, and it was capable of producing 41%
Fig. 5. Influence of solar panel price on LCC of the system considering different
of excess electricity during peak production in the summer. In this
configurations [62].
season, high solar irradiation would allow households with average
sized home to have a self-sufficiency rate of 100%, therefore, mini
mizing the electricity cost significantly. In contrast, the ICE-based CHP building. In the implemented design, three different PV technologies
unit was accounted for charging the battery in the winter, which would namely: Polycrystalline, Monocrystalline, and Cadmium Telluride were
allow the cogeneration system to operate at its maximum efficiency. For installed, generating 47.1 kWe of power in total. A fully controlled BESS
the purpose of minimizing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, the system of 63 kWh was developed to store the excess electrical energy
power provided by PV and battery subsystem was given precedence over during sunny days, and the provided CHP unit would generate power to
the CHP unit. Consequently, the electricity generation rate by means of compensate for uncertainties associated with the solar system and power
ICE was kept at the minimum rate. With regards to the affordability of shortages. The CHP system was based on Ref. [64], and it had electrical
hybrid energy systems by homeowners in the UP region, the authors and thermal capacity of 65 kWe and 120 kWth, respectively. The thermal
categorized the households into different groups based on their annual network was comprised of the CHP unit along with two conventional gas
income, ranging between 30,000$ to 150,000$. They found that the boilers (108 kWth) and three TES units, which could ensure heat supply
homeowners with an annual income of 150,000$ or more were capable and storage throughout the year. The performance of the overall system
of investing and operating such hybrid energy systems, whereas, fam was monitored in the entire year, and all the required parameters were
ilies with income less than 30,000$ were inadequate to invest in off-grid recorded so to evaluate the self-sufficiency of the building and its
systems. Households making an annual income of 30,000$ to 149,000$ effectiveness on reducing the maximal imported power from the utility
were eligible to deploy this solar hybrid system depending on the initial grid. As the result, an effectual control strategy was designed for con
down payment and financial incentives. The final results presented that trolling the energy flow between the PV, CHP, and BESS systems. This
the required PV system for every household type could vary from 1.67 decreased the grid-maximal power from 140 kWe to 120 kWe; this
kWe for a seasonal household to 7.7 kWe for full-year residences with six suggested possible increase of the PV capacity for higher benefits.
members. In contrast with the previous studies, authors in Ref. [54] integrated
Variety forms of hybrid-CHP systems are assessed in numerous case a fully renewable micro-hybrid energy system for cogeneration appli
studies for different applications. One of these case studies in Spain cation. The suggested model was developed using an ORC, which was
investigated PV/T systems in five locations within the country with comprised of CSP and a biomass burner. This configuration was able to
different climate characteristics [62]. The suggested configuration exploit the benefits of hybridization in comparison with the corre
incorporated PV panels, solar thermal collectors, and ICE-based CHP sponding stand-alone ORC systems (solar-only or biomass-only). The
unit without any energy storage capability. The objectives were to integration could potentially reduce the biomass consumption, increase
compare the performance of the system with conventional methods, the maximum operating hours, and improve the overall efficiency of
calculate the primary energy consumption and emissions, and analyze generation. Parabolic trough collectors (PTC) were selected for this
the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) for different integrations. The proposed system application over Fresnel mirrors, according to the presented evaluation
was focused on providing electricity, domestic hot water (DHW), heat in Ref. [65]. The CSP system was in series with a conventional biomass
ing, and cooling. For that purpose, it included: 5.5 kWe ICE units running burner to feed the ORC structure that consisted of a feed pump, a heat
on natural gas, 14 PV panels, 12 solar-thermal collectors, and air-cooled generator, a turbine, and a condenser. The solar energy system was
liquid chillers. Further, different scenarios were configured based on the deployed as the primary generating unit, whereas, the biomass boiler
incorporated units, including: conventional method, Micro-CHP en was only active during low solar radiation. The impacts of condensation
gines, Micro-CHP engines + PV, Micro-CHP engines + solar-thermal, temperature as well as evaporation on the thermodynamic performance
and Micro-CHP engines + PV + solar-thermal, in order to find the best was investigated, and the study was validated by deploying the proposed
possible option. It was clearly demonstrated that the conventional system in Southern Italy for residential application. Expectedly,
method, importing electricity from the grid and supplying heat from condensation temperature had negative effects on the system’s effi
natural gas boilers, was associated with high energy consumption and ciency. To improve both electrical and thermal efficiencies, the critical
GHG emissions, however, it was offering the lowest Life Cycle Cost pressure was doubled and assumed as the maximum pressure, while the
(LCC) due to its low investment, operational cost, and maintenance costs condensation temperature was set to 80 ℃. These operating conditions
(Fig. 5). On the contrary, the system incorporating micro-CHP engines, guaranteed power generation of 44 kWe at 17.6% efficiency, and ther
PV modules, and solar-thermal units provided the lowest fuel con mal power of 168 kWth at 67.2% efficiency. Meanwhile, the perfor
sumption, CO2 emissions, and the highest LCC amongst all other sce mance of the hybrid system showed promising results in terms of
narios. A practical implementation of such model could be observed in thermodynamic aspects. Comparing with the solar-driven system (stand-
Ref. [63]. Authors developed an operative control scheme for UCEEB alone system), the mean electrical efficiency of hybrid integration was
university in Czech Republic with the intention to reduce grid-maximal approximately 1.6% higher. This was due to the fact that the solar-
contracted power. PV arrays, battery energy storage system (BESS), and driven configuration was solely depended on solar radiation and
a CHP unit were the primary components deployed in this hybrid consequently making its efficiency not consistent throughout a day (6%
7
to 18%). Furthermore, the comparison results between the thermal and this research work was intended to investigate the operation of a sub-
electrical driven mode of operation, as well as hybrid and stand-alone network in order to determine the solar-thermal system’s size and
integration proved the viability of the system. The annual self- eliminate the need for any types of backup boilers. Considering the
consumed rate of both hybrid and biomass-fired CHP plants were objectives, influencing parameters on the collector field size such as load
quite similar, however, in thermal-driven mode the amount of heat profile, temperature pattern, and solar radiation were determined and
surplus for hybrid system was higher by roughly 20%. Moreover, this collected in hourly basis, aiming at optimum field and storage capacity
mode of operation provided the possibility of slightly higher self- (Fig. 6). The attained results were not precise and accurate since the
consumed rate due to the solar energy integration. Concerning the comparison was drawn against SDH-Online tool outputs. Although, for
yearly biomass consumption in the hybrid configuration, the ratio was the sake of design validation the suggested model presented a good
reduced by at least 12.4% and 22.1% in thermal- and electrical-driven validity. The authors pointed out that the accuracy of the results was
mode, respectively. Overall, both hybrid and biomass-only systems highly depended on the quality of the input data. Further, the results
demonstrated similar performance. The advantages of hybrid over highlighted the benefits of implementing solar-thermal in an existing DH
biomass-fired CHP, such as lower biomass consumption at the cost of system by showing emissions reduction and improved flexibility. Satis
higher operating hours, ensured the efficiency and validation of the fying the required thermal demand of a sub-network by means of solar
proposed system. energy could significantly enhance the efficiency of the CHP plant. For
additional emissions reduction, it was discussed that the elimination of
3.1.3. District heating application back boilers from DH networks could be a promising solution. With this
As it stated before, residential sector is responsible for a massive regard, the solar-thermal sub-network had to be capable of compen
portion of global energy demand. In this sector, majority of energy de sating for the backup boilers. According to the simulation results, if the
mand are required in forms of electricity, heating, and cooling, which main network was capable of compensating for the lack of heat supply, a
are supplied by burning fossil fuels; hence, over the past decades sub-network with thermal storage and annual solar fraction of 14%
emphasis has been given to increase renewable utilization in this sector. could in fact eliminate the need for any auxiliary boiler. To summarize
One of the promising approaches that traces its roots back to 1853 is this study, the proposed solar-thermal integration in the existing DH
district heating technology, in which the required space heating and hot networks was viable for practical implementation.
water can be supplied by a connected network. Commonly, this system is Development of natural circulation systems introduced an innova
comprised of a heating plant, distribution network, and a consumer tive approach in utilization of thermal energy sources. Amongst
system. Deploying CHP technology as the heating plant can result in renewable energies, solar and geothermal contain thermal energy that
more efficient, sustainable, and reliable energy production, distribution, can be recovered for certain applications. The systems that are capable
and consumption [66]. In this context, authors in Ref. [64] suggested a of exploiting this thermal energy are known as natural circulation sys
model and optimization method to evaluate the performance of a CHP- tems, in which the primary objective is to transport heat from the source
DH network with solar-thermal and energy storage systems (EES). The to a sink. Closed-loop circulation cycles are extensively used in solar
objective of the optimization was to minimize the total cost of acquisi heaters and geothermal heat pumps [68]. There exist several solar-based
tion, which was the cost of production subtracted by the revenue from technologies that can be implemented to generate thermal and electrical
selling the electricity on the deregulated power market. The overall energy simultaneously. In Ref. [69], photovoltaic-thermal collectors
system was comprised of two biomass-fired (CHP-1 and CHP-2) and one were implemented along with TES and battery units in order to gener
natural gas-fired CHP units (CHP-3), one natural gas-fired (HOB-1) and ated power as well as space heating and hot water for residential ap
one heavy oil-fired heat-only boilers (HOB-2), a solar-thermal field, and plications. The study was mainly focused on the economic aspects of
a TES. The primary target of the suggested configuration was to satis such solar-based CHP system, and its viability for practical imple
fying the heating demand in a DH network. Concerning the objective mentation for a single household in three different cities including:
function (net acquisition cost), the authors assessed different possible Zaragoza, London, and Athens. To this end, the payback time and the
operating schedule for this system. With this regard, they presented four levelized production cost were selected as the main economic parame
different scenarios for electricity and heat generation, depending on the ters that could determine the cost competitiveness of the proposed sys
operating units. While in the first scenario all the units were assumed tem. Various influencing parameters such as PV/T collector price and
operational, in the second scenario CHP-1, third scenario CHP-2, and feed-in-tariffs showed that the cost competitiveness could vary signifi
fourth scenario CHP-3 were not considered operational. The simulation cantly, depending on the financial incentives in that certain location. In
results illustrated the fact that, in the case of two running biomass-fueled particular, reducing collectors’ price by 50% in London could poten
CHP units and the solar-thermal system (scenario 4), the total cost of tially decrease the payback time by 22%, while this was 18% in Zar
acquisition could reach the lowest value amongst the other scenarios, agoza. Similar effects could be observed by varying fuel inflation rate,
whereas, the second scenario resulted in 170% higher objective function electricity price, natural gas price, and fee-in-tariffs. Concerning the
than the fourth scenario. This was due to the high consumption of nat levelized production cost, while parameters such as fuel inflation rate
ural gas in CHP-3 and HOB-1, and its higher price compared to biomass. and feed-in-tariffs could lower the value, on the contrary, natural gas
It is also worth mentioning that the solar heating was only responsible price, collectors’ price, and electricity price would increase the pro
for 0.2% of energy supply to the DH network during January, while this duction cost. In general, implementing the system in Zaragoza and
value could be improved by 30.5% in July. Furthermore, the influence of Athens could result in a payback period of 10 to 11 years, just by
solar field area on fuel consumption was investigated by doubling the lowering the collectors’ price and installation cost by 10% and 20%,
area and conducting a comparative analysis. The obtained outcomes respectively. To achieve similar payback period for the case of London,
clearly indicated that the expansion of solar field would have nominal additional reduction in collectors’ price and larger financial incentives
impact on the fuel consumption. Although, the performance of CHP were required. Using a different technology to utilize solar energy for
units at minimum load was more reliable and consistent, and the TES heat generation, a high-performance solar thermoelectric system was
operating hours could decrease significantly. designed and it was practically developed in Hefei, China [70]. The
According to the operating temperatures of solar thermal collectors, proposed design was consisted of a flat micro-channel heat pipe, a
the most commonly developed typologies for DH applications are thermoelectric module, and a water-cooling system. The thermoelectric
advanced flat-plate and evacuated tube collectors. To this end, authors module was bounded between the water-cooling system and the micro-
in Ref. [67] evaluated both technologies by integrating a large solar- channel heat pipe (Fig. 7 (a)). Solar heat could be observed using
thermal field in a sub-network that was supplied by a conventional absorbing film attached to the flat heat pipe, and the heat was trans
large-scale CHP plant from the main DH network. Unlike previous cases, ferred to the condenser section of the thermoelectric module. The
8
Fig. 6. A common approach for integrating solar-thermal into the current DH networks [67].
Fig. 7. Schematic representation of the solar thermoelectric system (a) and changes in output power, electrical efficiency, and thermal efficiency by varying solar
irradiation (b) [70].
thermoelectric module would then heat up the opposite side, trans single household rather than presenting district heating application in
ferring heat to the cooling-water for hot water production. Additionally, particular. This can be a rather important topic for future research works
thermoelectric module was capable of producing electricity based on the that requires model development for larger scales as well as more precise
Seebeck effect, making the entire structure a CHP system. Mathematical economic evaluations.
modeling of the configuration was carried out using energy balance and
heat transfer theory. The model was validated by developing a prototype 3.1.4. Energy systems integration application
unit and using data acquisition instruments such as pyranometer and Over the past years, much attention has been given to integration of
anemometer for a precise evaluation. The measured data indicated that solar energy in multi-generation systems capable of producing power,
the system was capable of generating 0.659 W power at the load resis heat, and cooling energy. Integrated Energy Systems is looking at how
tance of 4.2 Ω under 700 W/m2 solar irradiation (Fig. 7 (b)). The system energy systems can connect together and operate in an integrated
could achieve electrical and thermal efficacy of 2% and 58% under the manner. With current developments in renewable supplies of electricity,
rated solar irradiation, respectively. Further, investigating several emerging consumer devices, energy storage, and smart buildings, energy
influencing parameters including: input water temperature and number systems integration is the process that brings them all together into a
of heat pipes illustrated that these two parameters had negative impacts system that provides value for consumers. In this context, authors in
on both thermal and electrical efficiencies. Vast majority of research Ref. [56] evaluated the economic aspects of a solar-based poly-genera
works on solar-thermal systems are focused on model development for a tion plant by drawing a comparison between two methods of cost
9
allocation, namely: Levelized Cost and Thermo-Economic cost, in order technologies), chillers, and auxiliary boilers. This configuration was
to analyze the costs allocation process and the specific costs of each based on a seven-building practical project in Suurtoffi district, Risch
product. The configured design in this study could exploit solar radia Rotkreuz, Switzerland (Fig. 9). The suggested optimal design was
tion by using CSP parabolic trough collectors, TES, and a backup system expressed as a MILP model with the objective functions being the
as the prime mover in order to generate electricity. Furthermore, this annualized cost, operating costs, and importing/exporting grid elec
structure was linked to other production plants including: a multi-effect tricity. The sizing of PV modules was measured based on the solar
distillation to produce desalted water, single-effect absorption refriger irradiation throughout a year, in which PV arrays with an electrical
ation to provide industrial cooling, and a counter-current heat capacity of 200 W/m2 with 15% efficiency were found to be the best
exchanger to supply the required process heat. Utilization of solar possible units for this project. Meanwhile, six different technologies such
irradiance at a great extend is heavily relied on the location; for that as gas engine, combustion engine, fuel cell, and piston steam engine
reason, Atacama Desert was selected for the solar field deployment since with different thermal and power capacities were employed in the
it possessed suitable geographical position and environmental condi design as the prime movers. Assessing the overall performance and
tions. The solar field was integrated in a way to take advantage of recording the computational results were carried out in four different
EuroTrough collectors (72% optical efficiency), Dowtherm-A synthetic scenarios. It was found that the overall cost for purchasing fuel and
oil as heat transfer fluid, and Schott PTR-70 absorber tubes. Since the electricity from the utility grid was responsible for over 90% of the total
CSP technology (based on Andasol-1 configuration [71]) was chosen as annual cost in the conventional system. Further, deploying PV arrays
the prime mover to focus on electricity production, the suggested poly- and CHP units in each building decreased the annualized cost by 10%,
generation system was considered as a topping cycle. For supplying from which the cost of fuel was the primary reduction. This scenario was
thermal energy during low solar irradiation, a natural gas heater was associated with less CO2 emissions and the advantage of selling elec
developed as a backup unit. The system was designed for continuous tricity surplus back to the grid. Moving to the third scenario, the impacts
supply of electricity, distilled water, cooling, and process heat (Fig. 8). of interconnected buildings for energy reciprocity was presented. This
To this end, maximizing the performance of the solar field and electricity was done by dividing the district into three subnetworks, where each
production, compared to the stand-alone CSP plant, the connection building included a site capable of generating heat and/or power. In the
point of each system was considered based on the operating temperature last scenario, the evaluation was taken further by deploying all consid
constraints of that technology. These constraints caused changes to the ered technologies in each building and assuming energy flow through 6
design parameters, for instance, the aperture area of the solar field was heating pipelines and 16 electrical connections between the buildings.
increased by 20.9% in order to keep the gross electricity generation This configuration reduced the annual cost by 40% and CO2 emissions
equal to the stand-alone CSP plant. Following the main objective of the by 17%, compared to the conventional method. Although this method
study, comparison between the two methods of cost allocation showed was incorporated with the highest capital cost due to the large PV
that, one could benefit from simplicity of Levelized Cost method since installation, but the revenue from selling the excess electricity
the availability of thermodynamic and plant information is not neces compensated for this downside.
sary. On the contrary, the thermo-economic approach was based on the
second law of thermodynamic which made it more precise for cost
allocation. This method was more complex and it required knowledge of
thermodynamics and parameters of the plant. Further assessments on
the energy price indicated that the electricity price acquired by Lev
elized Cost was higher compared to the other method, while this was
reversed for water, cooling, and heating prices. Overall, the study
demonstrated that the thermo-economic method was more precise and
accurate concerning cost allocation and assessing the profits of the poly-
generation system, whereas, the Levelized Cost approach was faster and
more simplified.
While some of the studies are focused on centralized plants for en
ergy generating and transmission, a distributed energy system was
recommended in Ref. [72] with the intention to improve load leveling
and decrease heat losses associated with transmission. These two ob
jectives could potentially satisfy two features of the 4th generation DH
network. The authors developed a mathematical model to investigate
the impacts of power and heat exchange (energy reciprocity) between
the buildings. They proposed a framework for equipment selection, the
connection of pipelines, and the electrical network between the build
ings. The model of distributed energy supply was based on the concept of
poly-generation, and it was consisted of solar arrays, CHP units (various
Fig. 9. The structure of in-building supply and demand system in a district

Fig. 8. Sankey diagram of the poly-generation plant [56]. considering the energy exchange among buildings [72].
10
3.1.5. Optimization methods points due to uncertain forecasts (Fig. 10). The sizing of components was
Optimizing the performance of cogeneration systems is carried out in measured in accordance with the commercially available products in the
various techniques to achieve certain objectives. The operation of any market. The electrical system was comprised of a 3.2 kWe PV field and a
energy system can be improved concerning thermodynamic perfor Li-Ion battery of 4.2 kWh with charging and discharging efficiency of
mance, economic feasibility, and environmental impacts. In this context, 90% and 92%, respectively. During power shortages or high demands,
Patwal and Narang et al. developed a search-based optimization lack of energy was compensated by the grid. Concerning the heat gen
framework aiming at multi-objective scheduling to achieve cost mini eration, the structure included a gas-fired CHP unit of 2.4 kWth and a
mization as well as emissions reduction [73]. The suggested system was conventional gas boiler of 20 kWth as a backup unit. Satisfying the
incorporating both hydroelectrical and thermal plants, forming a Pum thermal demand was carried out indirectly through a storage unit of 300
ped Storage Hydrothermal (PSHT) structure coupled with solar units. L, rather than direct transmission. To understand the influence and
The mathematical modeling of the system was formulated to investigate impact of “low-level ruled-based controller” on correction of set points,
the effect of pump storage (PS) and PV units on cost minimization and 3 different modes of operation were proposed. In mode-A, PV operation
emissions reduction of three test systems in four different scenarios. The and load demand were assumed to be constant and predictable. The
first test system was mainly implemented to analyze the performance of “low-level controller” in this approach had negligible effect on the re
Crisscross Particle Swarm Optimization (CSPSO) approach, which was sults and the operational costs and performance of the components. On
the improved version of the PSO algorithm [74]. To this end, only a the other hand, the difference between the forecast and real input values
standard hydrothermal plant was considered for the evaluation pur were contemplated for in the mode-B, unlike the predictability feature of
poses. The results illustrated the advantages of CSPSO over the other mode-A. The provided forecast data in this model were assumed to be
techniques due to its capability of higher cost and emissions reduction. constant at each corresponding time interval between different days.
This method could achieve 9.69% and 3.11% lower minimum cost in The objective of the low-level controller was to stick to the optimized
comparison with the differential evolution (DE) and original PSO tech schedules as close as possible and correct the operation set points based
niques, respectively. Further, the second and third test systems evalu on the real data obtained from the generated power and the energy
ated the implementation of PS units and PV modules in the hybrid demands. In case of mode-C, the “cloud-based control mode” was
configuration. This was carried out by considering four different sce analyzed with the same assumptions as in mode-B. The results in this
narios based on the presence of each or both PS and PV units in every study were evaluated in terms of typical days, seasons, and throughout a
system. The suggested CSPSO algorithm could achieve even higher year. It was clearly indicated that the CHP plant was responsible for
economic and environmental benefits in these two test systems, to a majority of energy supply during winter, while having the highest
point where minimum cost could be decreased by 18.64% comparing operational costs in this season due to the high cost of fuel. On the
with the original PSO algorithm. In accordance with the comparative contrary, summer days accounted for equal fuel price and feed-in of PV
analysis between different scenarios, it was evident that the simulta energy, therefore, resulting in zero operational energy costs. In terms of
neous incorporation of PS and PV units could decrease the cost and day performance evaluation, all modes were accounted for similar re
emissions by an additional of 10.27% and 39.74% comparing with the sults with different computational periods. The full year operation of the
single incorporation, respectively. hybrid system demonstrated that the uncertainties increased the oper
Optimization schemes can be developed based on search-based or ational costs of fast approach mode-C for 7%, whereas, reducing the self-
calculus-based techniques. Calculus method, or famously known as consumption of CHP and PV for 14% and 12%, respectively. Since CHP
gradient method, utilizes first and/or second-order derivatives to unit had to operate 24 h per day for all the seasons except summer, it was
determine the extremum, whereas, the search method does not require found that a 500-liter TES was required to meet the space heating and
gradient and it progressively follows a random or systematic patter hot water demands. In general, this combined control algorithm was
(sequence) in order to improve the objective function [75,76]. Unlike able to operate under uncertainties and incorrect weather and load
previous study which was based on a search method, a calculus tech forecasts. Moreover, the suggested hybrid system could achieve an
nique was developed by authors in Ref. [77]. They developed a flexible electrical self-efficiency of 85%.
control strategy for a PV-CHP hybrid system, combining a high-level
control-based MILP problem with a “low-level ruled-based controller”. 3.1.6. Summary of preliminary research works
This two-level optimization technique was consisted of a model pre Table 2 provides a summary of solar-integrated CHP systems and
dictive control (MPC) for minimization of operating costs and energy explains the significance of each study based on its key findings. Vast
management, and a ruled-based controller for adjusting incorrect set majority of the articles utilized ignite-based engines for cogeneration
purposes, and to this end, most of the models were operating with nat
ural gas. Moreover, several studies exploited the benefits of PV modules
and TES for better performance and flexibility of operation. Concerning
the technical specification, not many papers provided details on power
and heat capacity of the overall system. This is due to the fact that
numerous studies focused on the economic and emission optimization of
an IES rather than thermodynamic performance. It also worth
mentioning that majority of these studies investigated energy systems in
which solar generation was considered as an auxiliary energy source.
3.2. Geothermal energy
Geothermal energy, which is defined as the potential energy un

derneath the surface of the earth, is considered as a sustainable and
adaptive source of energy. Over the past decades, researchers have
accomplished significant outcomes by implementing and developing
this renewable source in the energy sector and exploiting its potential in
many regions, for instance, in Sweden, Turkey, and Denmark
Fig. 10. Schematic diagram of the proposed combined control algorithm based geothermal-based DH systems (GDHS) have been responsible for
on MPC. providing a great portion of thermal energy demand [66]. The process of
11
Table 2
Summary of research works on solar integration into CHP systems.
Research Prime Mover/Fuel Additional Materials and Methods Power/Heat Key findings
Components output
[35] Gas turbine Gas heater Robust optimal strategy Power: 28 MW ROS strategy could achieve the highest energy saving. Higher heat-
Natural gas to-power ratio decreases cost of MG system
[54] ORC CSP, Boiler, TES ORC [78] Power: 44 Kw Hybrid configuration can guarantee biomass saving. 74.3% and
Biomass CSP [79] Heat: 168 kW 50.3% thermal and electrical self-sufficiency in thermal-driven
mode
[56] ORC TES, Backup system Levelized cost allocation, Power: 55 MW levelized cost method is simple and fast, while thermo-economic
CSP Plant Thermo-economic cost Heat: 7 MW technique is precise and detailed. The electricity price with
allocation levelized cost method is higher compared to thermo-economic one.
[57] Microturbine PV-thermal, TES, Stackelberg game NA Verifying the effectiveness of deploying PV-thermal in MG systems.
Natural gas Boiler theoretic method Number of iterations is directly proportional with MGO profit,
while it impacts prosumers profit negatively.
[59] Internal combustion PV, BESS Simulation in HOMER Depending on CHP offered reduction in fuel consumption by 30–35%. Installing a
engine. the scenario chiller for CCHP generation can significantly increase the system’s
Natural gas Power: 11–13 efficiency. Such system can be a great help to transition away the
kW h energy systems in the US from centralized grid.
[61] Internal combustion PV, BESS PV simulation in PvSyst Depending on Increasing the cost of grid-tied electricity, can rise the number of
engine Levelized Cost of the scenario implemented of-grid hybrid systems as alternatives. For
Natural gas Electricity in MATLAB Power: maintaining the future of grid-tied electricity, the associated cost
7351–9319 kW should be kept at low rates while the hybrid systems costs decline.
h/m2
[62] Internal combustion PV, Solar-thermal Simulation in TRNSYS Depending on Concerning Life Cycle Cost, the conventional case presented the
engine Life Cycle Cost analysis the scenario best results. Properly designed hybrid system can decrease energy
Natural gas Total: 83–105 consumption as well as emissions.
kWh/m2
[63] Gas turbine PV, BESS, TES, Control Strategy in Power: 67.8–72 The properly developed control strategy could decrease the
Natural gas Chillers, Boilers MATLAB MWh imported power from the grid by 20 kW
Heat: 376 kW
[64] ORC and GT Boiler, TES, Solar- LP, MILP Depending on The performance of TES is affected by both thermal energy demand
Natural gas thermal the scenario and electricity price. The total cost of net acquisition can be
Power: 26 MW influenced by fuel prices significantly.
Heat: 80 MW
[67] NA Solar-thermal Simulation in MATLAB NA Integration of solar-thermal in DH network can reduce the
emissions and provide operational flexibility as well as improved
CHP efficiency.
[69] PV/T TES, BESS, Boiler Formulation in EES Depending on Cost competitiveness of solar-thermal systems relies heavily on
Solar irradiation Simulation in EnergyPlus the scenario financial incentives and components prices. Only 10% reduction in
Power: 3025 kW collectors’ price can greatly encourage homeowners to install
h/year solar-thermal systems for electricity and heat production.
Heat: 1634 kW
h/year
[70] Thermoelectric Water-cooling, Energy balance and Power: 0.659 W Implementing thermoelectric modules can be a feasible option for
Solar irradiation Micro-channel heat heat transfer theory Heat: NA thermal energy production of households. Thermoelectric modules
pipe can achieve electrical and thermal efficiencies similar to ORC
systems, while they can be developed in a more compact design.
[72] Stirling engine, fuel Solar-thermal, PV, MILP Depending on Connecting buildings for power and heat exchange could result in
cell, gas engine Boiler, Chillers the scenario 40% and 17% reduction of annualized cost and CO2 emissions
Natural gas respectively.
[73] NA PSU crisscross search particle NA Inclusion of PSU and solar energy in the system can reduce the cost
swarm optimization and emission by 10.27% 39.74%, respectively.
[77] Gas engine PV, Boiler, TES MPC model in Python Depending on Grid electricity and gas boilers heat are important to cover the
Natural gas the scenario forecasts uncertainties. Using variable time steps in the
CHP power: optimization method can reduce the computational time
5–24 kW h significantly.
Solar: 7–11 kW h
generating energy by means of geothermal power is often carried out 3.2.1. Geothermal heat pumps
using ORC systems due to having higher efficiency and a wide range of Geothermal heat pump, or often referred as ground source heat
operating temperature. These systems can be categorized into low- pump, is a method of renewable utilization that harvests heat energy
temperature (100-150℃) and high-temperature (above 200℃) cycles stored within the ground. Geothermal is a sustainable source of energy
[80]. Over the past decades, numerous studies illustrated the advantages that is available in different levels of intensity, similar to other RESs. In
of geothermal energy for district heating applications in residential this regard, geothermal energy sources are divided into three groups
sector. This method of utilization often presented by means of ground namely: shallow geothermal resources, hydro-geothermal resources,
source heat pumps (GSHP) in integration with a hybrid energy system and hot dry rock (HDR) resources. While medium- and high-temperature
for power production. Today with realizing the benefits of ORC, model resources such as hydro-geothermal and HDR could be directly inte
development for geothermal-powered systems is moving towards larger grated into CHP systems (small-scale to large-scale), shallow geothermal
scale applications. To this end, recent studies have been involved with resources are utilized for domestic hot water production as well as space
evaluating thermodynamic as well as economic aspects of such config heating applications using GSHP [81]. Coupling geothermal heat pumps
urations for large-scale developments. with CHP systems is possible in various configurations. Seminal con
tributions have been made on evaluating the performance of each type
12
of structure, and conducting comparative analyses between different Implementing the suggested designs for residential application and
models. In this context, two of the most well-known methods for inte assessing their thermo-economic performance can be an encouraging
grating GSHP into CHP systems are series and parallel. In Ref. [82], a topic for real-estate developers, which can be investigated in future
novel series configuration (Fig. 11 (a)) was proposed and validated in research works.
comparison with a reference model, based on parallel cycle. In the Possible integration of absorption heat pumps (AHPs) with low-
parallel design, the integration between CHP and GSHP systems was temperature shallow geothermal introduced an innovative approach
implemented in a way that the CHP unit provided the electrical energy with improved thermodynamic performance. Utilization of absorption
required for running GSHP system. In terms of hot water (55 ℃) pro mediums such as water-ammonia mixture or water-lithium bromide
duction, the flue gas exiting out of the gas turbine and the warm water mixture (LiBr) in AHPs could significantly increase exergy efficiency,
flowing out of the GSHP pipes were the two thermal resources which and they can be implemented for both cooling and heating applications.
were utilized in entirely separate processes. On the contrary, the series Provided that GSHPs are mostly suitable for buildings in residential and
configuration provided the opportunity to exploit the heat in the flue gas commercial sectors, authors in Ref. [84] developed a hybrid CHP sys
for both hot water production as well as preheating the warm water tem, which was based on their preliminary CCHP system in Ref. [85], for
flowing out of the GSHP pipes. In this scenario, GSHP system was not a hospital building in Harbin, China. They carried out multi-criteria
required to produce hot water directly, but rather at lower temperature assessment and optimization considering thermodynamic, economic,
(Tw ) since the water was heated again to the required temperature (55 and environmental performances in comparison with similar pre
℃) using a portion of the flue gas existing out of the turbine. With this liminary works. In their proposed system, geothermal heat pumps were
regard, the compressor in GSHP system was operating at lower power coupled with a CHP unit which was operating on natural gas by means of
demand than the reference system due to the fact that the refrigerant an ICE. The novelty of this research was implementation of double-effect
was compressed to a lower pressure value. The two parameters, absorption heat pumps (AHP) which were driven by high-temperature
including: compression ratio and flue gas ration, were investigated in a and low-temperature thermal resources including: ICE exhaust gas and
sensitivity analysis in order to realize their influences on thermody shallow geothermal (Fig. 12). The primary components in this design,
namic performance. The sensitivity analysis illustrated that, Tw was including: AHP, GSHP, and ICE, were formulated mathematically using
inversely proportional with the coefficient of performance (COP) of energy balance and mass balance equations. In addition, the model of
GSHP, whereas, it was directly proportional with the compression ratio, each component was validated in accordance with the RMS error be
and therefore, compressor power consumption. In general, the proposed tween the simulation and reference data. The entire system worked in a
system was capable of reducing power consumption and lowering heat- way to supply electricity using ICE and the grid, and satisfying the space
to-power ratio, while it could increase power output and the overall heating demand using ICE exhaust gas, AHPs, and GSHPs. Further, the
efficiency. Relatively similar approach was taken by authors in allocation ratio of mixed hot water between these three thermal re
Ref. [83], in which the suggested series configuration was no longer sources were selected as the objective function for thermodynamic
splitting the flue gas into two flows (Fig. 11 (b)). Unlike the previous optimization. The ratios would determine the amount of generated
study, the entire flow of flue gas exiting out of the turbine was utilized space heating water as well as transferred thermal energy to the evap
for heating the warm water (Tw ) flowing out of the GSHP pipes. The orators in GSHP and AHP systems. The simulation results illustrated the
reference system as well as hot water temperature were remained fact that one of the most influential factors in supplying thermal energy
similar to Ref. [82]. The study mainly elaborated on exergy analysis and was the allocation ratio of GSHP. When 90% of mixed hot water was fed
the influence of Tw on exergy efficiency, power output, heat output, and to the GSHP and the remaining to AHP, the system could achieve the
natural gas input to the system. With predetermined values such as hot highest energy saving ratio at 53.20%, CO2 reduction ratio at 40.80%,
water temperature of 55℃ and warm water temperature of 35 ℃ the and annual cost saving ratio at 6.32%. The optimum allocation ratio
suggested configuration was capable of increasing the exergy efficiency indicated that the space heating water was fully generated using GSHP
by almost 3.7% and power output by 24%. The exergy analysis showed and AHP units. Furthermore, the authors investigated the influence of
that Tw was inversely proportional with the input fuel, and hence, it part load ratio (PLR), preheat temperature, and LiBr solution con
could result in lower power output when increased. In terms of total heat certation on thermodynamic performance of ICE, GSHP, and AHP,
output, the system was not affected by rising Tw since any increase in respectively.
GSHP heat output resulted in similar reduction in CHP heat output.
Fig. 11. Schematic representation of series GSHP-CHP models in Ref. [82] (a) and Ref. [83] (b).
13
3.2.2. Economic analysis conventional cost calculation method was the most efficient and suitable
Designing and developing any energy system is limited by the approach, whereas, in the high pricing scenario it was only appropriate
boundaries associated with financial investments, governmental policies for the low-temperature DH system. On the other hand, for the case of
and regulations, availability of resources, and environmental pro higher temperature or heating demand exergy costing method resulted
tections. In this regard, energy conversion systems are evaluated and in the highest revenue for the CHP plant. In this study, depending on the
optimized considering these boundaries, so as to implement an efficient amount of energy and its usefulness, the novel Levelized Cost of Exergy
system that is economically and environmentally feasible. In energy was suggested so as to perform an effective cost allocation process for
system analysis, economic aspects are the most important factors in each product of the system.
making a system practically viable for implementation, particularly for Provided that the thermodynamic performance of any energy system
renewable technologies due to their capital-intensive nature. Although, is tied to the economic parameters, various optimization frameworks are
economic parameters in energy systems are not treated separately to the developed to optimize the operation of system considering both ther
thermodynamic and environmental aspects. The main goal for any en modynamic and economic aspects. In this context, authors in Ref. [87]
ergy system is to satisfy the required demand at the lowest cost and developed a thermo-economic optimization model for series, parallel,
emissions with the highest efficiency. In this context, a case study was preheated-parallel, and HB4 configurations. The study was carried out
carried out in Belgium in order to evaluate various cost metrics for aiming at maximizing the NPV in accordance with the DH network re
application to a CHP plant, in which a low-temperature geothermal quirements. Further, a comparative analysis was developed to select the
source could power up the system. The configuration was arranged in a best configuration based on the operating and economic viability. The
way that could supply the heat to a DH network in parallel with an ORC suggested models were considered for connection to two types of DH
system [86]. The authors extended the concept of Levelized Cost to networks, including: 90/60 and 65/40. With this regard, simulation was
include the Levelized Cost of Exergy in order to account for the two carried out for both networks and the results were presented considering
products (electricity and heat) in one cost metric. The suggested heating demands of 5 MWth, 10 MWth, and 20 MWth. In terms of eco
configuration included: 30◦ tube layout for flowing the brine in ORC and nomic feasibility, higher heating demands were associated with
DH in parallel (Fig. 15 (b)), axial turbine, and an air-cooled condenser improved NPV since higher utilization of heat could significantly impact
with flat tubes. The optimization concerning economic aspects was the economics of the system (Fig. 13). In addition, the presence of
conducted by considering the maximal Net Present Value (NPV) as the recuperator in the design could improve the NPV value up to 8%,
objective function. As it was indicated by the simulation results, NPV compared to the standard ORC configuration. Series and HB4 systems
calculation showed an increase of economic attractiveness in the could deliver promising results in all considered cases, however, each
cogeneration system over the stand-alone power production, however, one could outperform the other in different scenarios. While the series
this was associated with a reduction in electricity generation as the cycle had the highest NPV in connection to a 65/40 DH network, HB4
heating demand escalated. The case study was conducted for two DH system could present a better value in connection to a 90/60 DH system
networks in two different scenarios based on the electricity and heating with 5 MWth and 10 MWth heating demands. Concerning the thermo
prices. In a low pricing situation, the authors indicated that the dynamic performance of the system, net electrical output, exergy and
Fig. 12. Schematic representation of the proposed CHP system coupled with GSHP and AHP [84].
14
energy efficiencies, and the brine inlet and outlet temperatures were presented that the series configuration with simple ORC illustrated
evaluated for all the cycles. While series cycle had the highest electricity better performance with lower supply temperatures, and it could return
generation rate at higher heating demands, HB4 could perform better opt
TORCout = 57.15 . In contrast, the recuperated ORC was a better choice
◦
when moderate consumption of thermal energy was taken into account. for higher supply temperatures with higher TORCoutopt
= 62.18 . On the
◦
Overall, the conclusion stated that the series cycle could outperform other hand, the parallel arrangement was mostly effective with high-
HB4 model when it was coupled with a low-temperature DH network, or temperature heating sources and its implementation was necessary
high-temperature DH network with high heating demand. On the other opt
when a TORCout > 65 was required. The simulation results for the case of
◦
hand, HB4 was the best suited configuration for high-temperature DH

preheating-parallel configuration demonstrated the capability of this
systems with moderate demand. Various contributions have been made
system in returning an optimal temperature of 62.18◦ (basic ORC) and
on this subject to optimize the performance of ORC systems in order to
57.15◦ (with recuperator). This was the best approach for a wide range
pave the way for energy transition and develop economically attractive
of supply and return temperatures, particularly for a large Tsupply − Treturn
hybrid systems, particularly for district heating purposes. Other studies
and low values of Treturn . The developed design in this study was based on
such as Ref. [88] only evaluated and optimized the operation of a
a preheat-parallel cycle, which was in fact the combination of parallel
particular configuration. The study only considered optimizing a par
and series configurations. This system was powered by a low-
allel geothermal-based ORC system, which was formulated to minimize
temperature geothermal source and it was consisted of a basic ORC
the operating and installation costs in order to make ORC-based CHP
and recuperated cycle along with the required heat exchangers,
systems more attractive considering economic aspects. In contrast,
condenser, and turbine. Concerning the primary objective, the optimi
Erdeweghe et al. in Ref. [89] conducted a similar optimization model as
zation was carried out aiming at maximum electrical generation while
it was presented in Ref. [87] for an ORC system with recuperation
satisfying the required thermal demand by the DH network. In the best-
(Fig. 14). Unlike the previous studies, authors evaluated the perfor
case scenario, the maximum net power output was found to be 5.58
mance of the optimization model by employing it in a case study based
MWe. Provided that the Tsupply was inversely proportional to the power
on geothermal and meteorological conditions in Belgium. Similar results
output, it was clearly indicated that the higher Tsupply was corresponding
to that of Ref. [87] was obtained in this research as well.
to a lower Wnet (Fig. 16) and higher exergy efficiency. Overall, the study
3.2.3. Thermodynamic analysis showed that the preheat-parallel cycle was the best option. This system
Optimization of a geothermal-based ORC system is not limited to cost was capable of generating 5.14 MW electrical energy with an exergy
and emissions reduction. One of the mainstream topics in model efficiency of 38.31%, which was higher than both parallel and series
development of geothermal-powered energy systems is thermodynamic arrangements.
improvement. Often, this topic is interpreted as the quality assessment A recent study on low-temperature geothermal-powered CHP plants
concerning energy conversion and utilization in an energy system. found that the series and parallel cycles should be implemented in
Thermodynamic analysis is based on laws of thermodynamic, evaluating accordance with the DH requirements in order to improve the thermal
the physical quantities of an energy system. Several studies developed efficiency [91]. This research work was focused on exergy analysis;
and evaluated different types of natural circulation cycles to obtain the therefore, the performance of both cycles was evaluated in two types of
most efficient and thermodynamically optimized system with regards to thermal networks, including: third-generation 80/60 and fourth-
the required application. In Belgium, researchers identified appropriate generation 50/30. Additionally, the authors considered a wide range
geothermal-based CHP configurations for implementing in DH networks
with three different thermal demands [90]. Selection of the optimal
system was heavily relied on the DH network requirements. To this end,
supply temperature of 40◦ -110◦ (heat source) and return temperature of
30◦ -70◦ were considered for all configurations, including: parallel, se
ries, and preheat-parallel (Fig. 15), in order to determine the best
possible arrangement for a DH network with 3 MWth, 6 MWth, or 9 MWth
thermal energy demand. Authors successfully demonstrated that the
series cycle was better suited for low-temperature DH networks with
higher heating demands. As the maximal electricity generation depen
ded on the temperature of the heat source supplied to the ORC, it was
Fig. 13. Net present value as the function of thermal energy demand required
by the DH network [87]. Fig. 14. Schematic representation of a recuperated ORC [89].
15
Fig. 15. Schematic representation of a series (a), parallel (b), preheat-parallel (c), and HB4 (d) geothermal-based ORC. Full lines indicate brine flow. Dash lines
present DH flow [87].
of supply and return temperature based on the required thermal de significant power generation rate which further improved the exergetic
mand. The simulation was performed for both stand-alone electrical plant efficiency as well. Furthermore, a comparative analysis was car
plant and the suggested CHP models. The electrical plant was capable of ried out between the parallel and series configurations in the third- and
generating 6.18 MW electrical power, while delivering only 39.58% fourth-generation DH systems. The authors concluded that the parallel
exergetic efficiency; the values shaped the reference criterion for vali cycle had the best performance in high-temperature thermal network
dation of other proposed cycles. The authors discussed the net power (80/60), in which the generated electrical power and the overall exergy
output of the parallel cycle as a function of supply- and return- efficiency was 5.48 MWe and 41.25%, respectively. In contrast, the se
temperature for the case of 3 MWth, 6 MWth, and 9 MWth thermal ries plant was better suited for the low-temperature DH system, in which
loads. Since the parallel cycle would divide the brine flow rate between the generated electrical power and the overall exergetic efficiency were
the ORC and DH network, it was evident that the electrical output would 6.18 MWe and 42.63%, respectively.
decrease in case of higher heating demands. Assuming this configuration Numerous configurations have been suggested to integrate
was operating at constant return temperature and thermal load, the geothermal energy into ORC systems. Depending on various aspects
supply temperature did not affect the electrical output, however, the such as the connection of components, flow of the brine, or the heat
return temperature and heating demand had negative impacts on the recovery system each configuration can offer unique advantages as well
power generation by approximately 12%. Meanwhile, the exergy effi as disadvantages. There are several studies that developed novel systems
ciency of parallel system was determined in both third- and fourth- for utilization of geothermal resources. One of the studies that stands out
generation DH networks. Expectedly, the connection to the fourth- amongst others, developed four different geothermal-powered CHP
generation network rather than third-generation was more thermody
namically feasible, since higher heat utilization would result in
improved exergy efficiency and financial benefits. The parallel cycle was
selected for the high-temperature DH system (80/60) on account of the
fact that the high supply temperature could compensate for the losses in
power generation, hence, the overall exergy efficiency was improved.
On the other hand, the series configuration did not appear to corrobo
rate similar results as the parallel cycle. This system was independent of
the thermal load and it was inversely proportional with the supply
temperature. This was due to the fact that the entire mass flow rate
would pass through the ORC branch, therefore, generating the same
amount of power for all the values of heating demand. It is worth
mentioning that, generating a net power output equal to that of stand-
alone ORC plant was possible with the series cycle, however, the brine
temperature had to fall below 57 ℃ which only resulted in a return-
temperature of 30–35 ℃. Subsequently, connection of the series cycle
to the fourth-generation DH network clearly illustrated its advantages
over the third-generation type. In this DH network, since the pinch-point
temperature difference was already satisfied, the TORCout was not con
strained by the DH network’s supply temperature. This resulted in a Fig. 16. Influence of supply and return temperatures on the net power output,
for the case of 6 MWth DH network [90].
16
systems [92]. This research work was mainly conducted to optimize the advantages of each system in comparison with other configurations.
heat source utilization and improve the power generation of an ORC This research gained considerable prominence since each configuration
system. In this context, a thermal and power analysis were carried out in was considered in subcritical or transcritical pressure level, and it was
order to deliver a comparison between the four suggested integrations. inspected with more than 80 working fluids. In different systems,
The primary objectives were to enhance the electricity generation and working fluids could operate either in subcritical, transcritical, or su
lower the irreversibility, particularly the losses associated with the percritical state, depending on the operating pressure. In the subcritical
exhausted streams. The authors proposed four different cycles, namely: cycle, the fluid was below its critical pressure, whereas in the super
hybrid plant with additional preheater (HB1), hybrid plants with addi critical cycle, it was always higher than its critical pressure. Meanwhile
tional evaporation system (HB2, HB3), and hybrid plant with “simplicity using the transcritical cycle, the working fluid could transit between the
and novel switching” (HB4). The hybrid plant with additional preheater subcritical and supercritical states so as to cool down the brine more
was the optimized version of a series cycle, in which waste heat of the often. In the commonly formed simple ORC system, the working fluid
exhausted water could be recovered more efficiently. This cycle had the was pumped to a higher-pressure level in order to be heated by
advantage of high-power generation like series plant, while delivering geothermal water for expansion in the turbine. The process would end
higher outlet temperature due to that extra preheater after the heating with the working fluid entering the condenser to create a close loop
station. Meanwhile, the hybrid plant with evaporation system could be cycle. Since the working fluid exiting out of the turbine possessed a high
implemented for both series (HB2) and parallel cycles (HB3). In this temperature, a recuperator could be placed with the intention to in
configuration, the main evaporator would operate at higher pressure, crease the efficiency by generating same power output with less required
whereas, the secondary one was placed after the heating station at lower heat. On the other hand, a different technique for improving the effi
pressure value. The advantage of additional evaporator was improved ciency was to recover a portion of the working fluid from the turbine at
heat recovery by extra preheating and evaporation of the working fluid. an intermediate pressure in order to combine with the first stage
Another distinctive model was introduced as “simplicity and novel working fluid. This method was described as the ORC with turbine
switching”, in which the principle of operation was based on both series bleeding, in which the resultant working fluid could be pumped to a
and parallel cycles in order to effectively compensate for their associated higher pressure and continue the cycle in either simple or recuperated-
drawbacks. In this approach, the evaporator was directly attached to the ORC. In addition to the suggested models, the authors considered the
geothermal heat source (similar to series cycle), while the brine would development of multi-pressure designs, where each configuration was
divide into two parts flowing simultaneously in the heating plant and the implementation of three or more sub-cycles (Fig. 18 (a)). In this type
preheater (similar to parallel cycle). The primary advantages associated of structure, the brine was divided into several parts so as to flow in each
with this system were no restrictions regarding the high supply tem sub-cycle in accordance with the working fluid temperature. Based on
perature (like series plants) and no significant exergy losses (like parallel the temperature-heat diagram (Fig. 18 (b)), the temperature difference
plants). Further on, the influence of several working constrains were between the brine cooling curve and the working fluid heating curve
investigated under fixed boundary conditions in order to simplify the would determine the efficiency of the cycle, hence, lower temperature
analysis and comparison between the proposed hybrid and convectional difference would indicate better efficiency; multi-pressure designs took
systems. Concerning the impact of heating demand on power genera advantage of this feature. The proposed Kalina cycle was comprised of a
tion, even though it was illustrated that all configurations were nega recuperator and water-ammonia mixture as its working fluid (Fig. 19
tively affected by increasing the thermal energy demand, but the new (a)). This type of mixture had variable boiling temperature at constant
optimized cycles were able to present an additional 40%-60% improved pressure, thus, allowing the fluid to manipulate the pressure in the
net power output; thus, compensating for this downside and validating system by changing its composition. In the developed design, after the
their operational feasibility. Optimizing the operation was carried out heating process, the working fluid would be in two-phase region where
by improving the heat source utilization in hybrid systems. The opti the vapor (high ammonia concentration) would be expanded in the
mization of hybrid cycles featured itself in forms of improved exergy turbine for power generation and the liquid (low ammonia concentra
efficiency and lower irreversibility. Meanwhile, the evaluation in terms tion) would be separated to recycle back into the loop. In this regard, the
of return temperature highlighted a significant decrease in net power mixture allowed evaporation at constant pressure with variable tem
output in case of increasing the outlet temperature. The simulation re perature rather than fixed condition (Fig. 19 (b)). This technique
sults presented the upsides of HB4 system over the other configurations. enhanced the efficiency of the cycle by requiring lower temperature for
This type of system could take advantage of more flexible return and
supply temperatures. In contrast, implementing other cycles such as HB1
or HB2 could not provide enhanced optimization due to supply tem
perature restrictions. In addition, the analysis of performance based on
supply temperature did not show any effects for any values below 85℃,
therefore, the net power output and relative irreversibility were un
changed for all the configurations, whereas, the exergy efficiency
increased significantly (Fig. 17). In general, the viability of the proposed
systems was proven and it was determined that the implementation of
HB2 and HB4 systems could energetically and exergetically be viable.
Different techniques have been suggested to improve the perfor
mance of low-temperature geothermal-based CHP systems, when
coupled with DH networks. For low-temperature heat sources, Kalina
cycles are developed to utilize a binary working fluid to attain higher
exergy efficiencies. This type of technology can be implemented in
relatively low-temperature geothermal systems for improving thermo-
economic performance, compared to the conventional ORC configura
tions [93]. Several studies such as Ref. [94], investigated the perfor
mance of different ORC configurations including: ORCs with
recuperation, ORCs with turbine bleeding, and simple ORCs. In this
comparative study, carious ORC configurations including a Kalina cycle Fig. 17. Variation of exergy efficiency as the function of supply temperature
were developed and optimized in order to demonstrate the exergical under constant return temperature and thermal demand [92].
17
evaporation, while condensing at higher temperature. The obtained powered utilizing geothermal resources. Habka and Ajib investigated
results from the simulation proved the fact that the transcritical and the impact of varying parameters on two types of CHP configurations,
multi-pressure subcritical systems had the best performance amongst including: a parallel ORC and an operational geothermal-based CHP
the suggested designs. For lower outlet temperatures (below 70 ℃), plant (Neustadt-Glewe) [95]. The Glewe-Plant, which is based in Ger
these cycles outperformed the Kalina model, whereas, the performance many since 1995, is a direct heat transition geothermal-fueled CHP plant
was quite similar for higher temperatures. for district heating applications. The structure of the plant is based on
In a similar approach to previous studies, authors in Ref. [42] pre parallel-series ORC cycle, which is capable of generating 11 MWth with a
sented a comparison between four different CHP models connected to minimum temperature of 73℃ during summer. The authors evaluated
low-temperature (65/40) and high temperature (90/60) DH networks. the performance of this particular system and compared it to a parallel
The objective was set to identify the best possible configuration, cycle in terms of net output power, thermal efficiency, and the irre
considering the variations of supply temperature and mass flow rate. versibility in each configuration. They proposed a system, in which a
Additionally, the net power output of each model was considered for the low-temperature (100 ℃) geothermal was considered as the heating
optimization purposes. This article investigated the performance of se source (similar to the Glewe-Plant) and R134a as the working fluid.
ries, parallel, preheated-parallel (PP), and HB4 cycles, in which the Furthermore, the suggested design was assessed in certain conditions
principle of each configuration was similar to that of discussed in based on the changes in supply temperature, return temperature, and
Ref. [91]. Based on the simulation results, it was defined that the HB4 thermal energy demand. It was presented that the increase of return
cycle had the highest electrical output for both types of DH networks temperature would expectedly result in lower net output power, exergy
(Fig. 20). The overall performance illustrated that the high-temperature efficiency, and heat exchanger area, while increasing the irreversibility
DH system had lower power output (as low as 2.5 MWel). In addition, the due to inefficient heat source utilization when a higher return temper
influence of condenser temperature, pinch-point temperature differ ature was required. Similarly, rising the thermal energy demand
ence, and turbine isentropic efficiency were analyzed as well. Expect impacted the net power output and heat exchanger area in the same
edly, an increase in the turbine efficiency resulted in higher power way, while increasing the exergy efficiency in contrast. For the case of
output in both DH networks, whereas, the same increase in condensation Glewe-Plant, the obtained results had similar characteristics to the
temperature or pinch-point temperature difference influenced the net actual performance, however, supply temperature had an optimal value
power output inversely. Simulating the stand-alone electrical plant of 85 ℃, where beyond this value all ORC parameters would be influ
allowed the authors to establish a reference criterion for comparison enced negatively. The comparison between the two models illustrated
purposes. Interestingly, there was a strong correlation between the brine that, at return temperature of 40℃ the Glewe-Plant had 20% higher net
temperature, mass flow rate, net power output, and thermal efficiency. output power, 12% improved exergy efficiency, and 25% lower irre
The analyses revealed that, increasing the brine temperature would versibility, compared to the parallel CHP plant. These values would tend
diminish electrical power, while increasing the exergy efficiency, for to decrease by rising the return temperature. In a different operational
instance, in the parallel plant with 200 kg/s mass flow rate, rising the system, utilization of geothermal energy was not limited to power and
temperature from 110℃ to 150℃ resulted the net power output to heat production; its application included a multi-process system which
decrease by 7%, while it improved the exergy efficiency by 3.5%. This was based on geothermal-fueled combined heat, power, and oil recovery
loss in power generation and the gain in exergy efficiency was greater in (CHPO) principle. In this context, a case study was conducted to
lower mass flow rates due to the fact that the brine had to be split be compare this operational system with series and parallel ORC structures
tween the ORC and heating station in the parallel cycle. Conversely, this in order to identify the best configuration for multi-energy generation
did not affect the series, PP, or HB4 systems in power generation, since applications [96]. The implemented design was comprised of various
these cycles were independent of the brine flow rate. Although, it sub-systems including: “ORC, oil gathering and transportation heat
influenced the exergy efficiency in similar manner as the parallel cycle. tracing (OGTHT), and oil recovery (OR)”. The study was carried out to
In accordance with the simulation results, based on several operating assess the overall applicability of the proposed models in comparison
parameters such as the brine temperature, heating demand, mass flow with the actual data that was gathered from a series-integrated
rate, and working constraints, HB4 was designated as the most effective geothermal station in an oilfield. To this end, the authors performed a
and efficient model for power and heat generation in connection with thermodynamic evaluation so as to analyze the net electrical output,
the low-temperature DH networks. Alternatively, the series cycle was a when the system was subjected to variations in heat source temperature,
better option for high-temperature DH networks with lower mass flow critical mass flowrate ratio, and water inlet temperature. Simulation was
rates. carried out by assuming the inlet and outlet temperatures of the
There exist operational energy systems around the world that geothermal water as 110 ◦ C and 90 ◦ C, respectively. In the parallel cycle,
Fig. 18. Schematic representation of a triple-pressure ORC (a) and its temperature-heat diagram (b). Solid lines present the brine heating curve. Dash lines indicate
the brine cooling curve [94].
18
Fig. 19. Schematic representation of a Kalina ORC (a) and its temperature-heat diagram (b). Solid lines present the brine heating curve. The dash lines indicate the
brine cooling curve [94].
Fig. 20. Net power output of 65/40 DH network (a) and 90/60 DH network (b) [42].
the net power output subjected to changes in evaporation temperature The purpose of the study was to increase the temperature of the heating
showed parabolic behavior for all different working fluids. In this source by integrating an off-shore geothermal reservoir, utilizing natural
method of energy generation, the net power output would increase to its gas. Similar to other Rankine cycles, the structure of the system was
maximum value, when the optimal evaporation temperature of 78 ◦ C comprised of geothermal water heating system (GWHS), heat ex
could be obtained. Conversely, this relation was not true for the series changers, geothermal superheater, evaporator, turbine, condenser, and
cycle and the optimal temperature would differ from one organic fluid to pumps (Fig. 21). The system utilized warm seawater in order to evap
another, ranging from 92 ◦ C to 95 ◦ C. The results indicated that the orate ammonia (working fluid) in the evaporator. Further, this saturated
series cycle was preferred when the inlet temperature of the brine was working fluid was superheated by the GWHS, which would recover the
low and the heat source temperature of OGTHT was high. This was waste heat of natural gas from the production platform to drive the
reversed in case of the parallel connection. With respect to the net power turbine for electricity generation. In the end, the exhaust from the outlet
output, the parallel connection was capable of generating more elec of the turbine would enter the condenser to be cooled and liquidized.
tricity in comparison with the series cycle, while on the other hand, the Since the potential of waste energy was proportional to the plant effi
series cycle could provide better efficiency. ciency and power generation, the natural gas obtained from the
Malaysia-Thailand Joint Authority (MTJA) platform was investigated in
3.2.4. Stand-alone systems terms of specific heat capacity and the chemical compositions. The
In recent years, emphasis has been given to implement geothermal- suggested model was simulated with different superheated temperature
based ORC systems that are capable of heat recovery for residential or in order to observe the efficiency variations of the plant. The authors
industrial applications. Model development of such systems is not found that the increasing superheated temperature would result in the
limited to the designs that were reviewed in the previous sections. In efficiency reduction. Concerning the system’s capacity, it was evident
fact, there are seminal contributions on stand-alone systems, in which that the heat transferred to the superheater and evaporator by warm sea
only power generation is being consider. Evaluating such stand-alone water, waste heat, and rejected heat by the condenser could greatly
systems would be a great opportunity to investigate the possibility of impact the plant size. Since the temperature of the waste heat was
heat recovery implementation in future research works. In this section, limited by the MTJA platform production, the only option to expand the
well-developed stand-alone systems are being presented in order for system size was to increase the amount of input heat. In addition to
such configurations to be consider for heat recovery evaluation in the thermodynamic evaluations, the Total Capital Investment (TCI) of the
future. Exploiting the advantages of industrial processes for power system was inspected as well. Total investment for the smallest plant
generation has been a common approach for energy saving and cost capacity (11.657 MWe) was 60% lower than that of the largest plant
reduction. A novel approach to a Geothermal-based Ocean Thermal (32.593 MWel), however, due to the lower net power output the su
Energy Conversion (Geo-OTEC) power plant was proposed in Ref. [97]. perheated temperature was doubled (80 ◦ C), and consequently the TCI
19
estimation per unit kW (USD/kW) was 10% higher, compared to the Condenser (ACC) or Wet Cooling Tower (WCT) was considered for
largest plant. Another case study based on a similar Geo-OTEC system each cycle. The implemented heat exchangers were modelled in accor
was carried out by researchers from South Korea, who investigated the dance to the Bell-Delaware method [101,102]; also, the developed tur
unit cost of electricity by developing a thermo-economic analysis in bine was an axial-inflow/outflow type that was developed based on
terms of supplied heat and exergy efficiency [98]. Over the past years, Ref. [103]. The performance evaluation illustrated that, since the pres
many attempts have been made to bind thermodynamic and economic sure drop on the air side influenced the performance in large-scale
analysis of thermal systems, however, unlike this research majority of power plants, ACCs with flat tubes were more preferable over the
these approaches did not consider an OTEC plant with warm sea water round tubes. The pressure drop and heat transfer of the air-side were
utilization. In the conducted case study, a 20 kWe OTEC pilot plant was measured according to Ref. [104]. On the other hand, the work of
designated for the evaluation purposes. In the initial stage of the process, Kloppers was considered for modeling of the WCT due to the suggested
the pump would flow the working fluid (R32) in the evaporator at induced-draft towers with higher air velocity at the outlet [105]. In
approximately 12 ℃. Since the evaporator was exploiting warm sea terms of economic aspects, the LCOE cost was described in terms of CEPC ,
water at 26 ℃, the generated steam would rise to the temperature level CO&M , andCwater , in which they corresponded to the cost of drilling and
of 22 ℃, considering the thermal losses. Once the steam was expanded ORC, operation and maintenance, and cost of water in a year, respec
in the turbine for power generation, it would flow in the condenser in tively. Concerning the LCOE minimization, authors developed an opti
order to liquidize at 5 ℃ (deep sea water temperature). The study mization framework by finding the optimal conversion cycle parameters
managed to perform the analysis on the system and calculate the unit and sizing the components based on the Walraven et al. case studies
cost of generated electricity. It was found that the electricity price was [100,106]. It was presented that the increase of brine-inlet temperature
$0.363/kWh and the outcome was compared to another 10 MWe OTEC for both single- and double-pressure cycles could have a substantial
plant with unit cost of $0.44/kWh, hence, proving the economic influence on the overall efficiency, net power output, and LCOE cost.
viability of the suggested system. In addition, it was also confirmed that Rising the inlet-temperature from 100℃ to 150℃ could cut down the
the unit cost of generated power was directly proportional with the unit LCOE price by approximately 68% when using ACC method of cooling,
cost of supplied hot water, while inversely with the exergy efficiency of whereas, this reduction was 64% for the case of WCT (Fig. 22). At any
the system. given inlet-temperature, the LCOE was slightly lowered for the WCT due
In an alternative approach to reduce the Levelized Cost of Electricity to lower investment cost and higher net electricity generation rate. On
(LCOE) production, authors in Ref. [99] looked into the performance of the contrary, the outlet temperature of the brine had negligible effect on
different types of cooling methods for ORC systems, fueled by a low- the LCOE for the optimal brine-outlet temperature (60-70◦ ) with no
temperature geothermal source. The authors proposed an optimum constraints. Although, increasing the value of constraints resulted in
air-cooled ORC in their previous study [100], and they expanded their higher LCOE, forcing to deploy a recuperator for both methods of
research by suggesting a water-cooled ORC method in addition to the cooling.
air-cooled one. Furthermore, the influence of brine inlet- and outlet-
temperature as well as water price on the performance of the system 3.2.5. Summary of preliminary research works
were investigated in order to achieve a system with minimum LCOE Table 3 classifies the research works on geothermal-based CHP sys
cost. The recommended ORC configuration was presented with both tems in terms of prime mover, implemented components, and employed
single and double pressure recuperated, in which the Air-Cooled materials and methods. Expectedly, all configurations were based on the
ORC structure, in which the geothermal water was utilized as the
heating source. The research focus for majority of the studies was to
implement, compare, or optimize different ORC configurations in
connection to DH networks. Several optimization models paid a great
attention to economic analysis of such systems in order to attract more
investors to implement such RES-CHP systems for residential applica
tions. In terms of materials and methods, MATLAB and Python were the
two most-used software for formulation or simulation purposes.
3.3. Wind energy
Wind turbine technology has been established as the second largest

renewable power generation all around the world. The developments in
wind power industry are fundamental for achieving transformation of
energy structure. This type of energy signifies a vital renewable source
and a leading player in the energy market. Despite its availability, the
curtailment associated with this technique has raised concerns in some
countries regarding its economic viability. These curtailments can be a
direct consequence of voltage constraint, transmission constraint, and
balancing constraint. Integration of wind energy in cogeneration sys
tems improves operational flexibility and accounts for the uncertainties
of wind power generation. Currently, flexibility and solving the eco
nomic dispatch problem are the primary topics concerning wind inte
gration into large-scale power systems. This has given rise to CHP
developments for better operating flexibility in power systems that wind
is associated with curtailments. Majority of studies involving wind uti
lization elaborated on economic viability as well as minimizing wind
power curtailments in large-scale power systems.
3.3.1. Economic dispatch problem

Fig. 21. Schematic representation of the Geo-OTEC power cycle [97]. Economic dispatch problem is often formulated in form of a complex
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computer model that represents power system demand in a time step reduction above 25% was not economically viable for 180$/pu wind
and identifies the generating resources for satisfying that demand. power (Fig. 23). Overall, it was shown that the multi-objective PSO
Achieving the lowest cost of energy generation while satisfying the de could achieve a better accuracy and quality of results, while lowering
mand is the main objective in economic dispatch model. Formulating the computational time compared to the other techniques.
economic dispatch problem for cogeneration systems is rather complex An alternative approach was taken by authors in Denmark to
due to nonlinearity behavior of CHP systems. In such economic dispatch investigate the flexibility of backpressure and extraction CHP systems
models, the objective is not limited to power cost minimizing, but in and develop an optimal dispatch model in order to solve the economic
fact, it should account for heating cost as well. Over the past decades dispatch problem [109]. In their study, the suggested dispatch model
various research projects were carried out, aiming at system optimiza was comprised of two stages aiming at reduction of heat production cost
tion and flexibility of wind energy systems in large-scale scenarios. Xian and real-time balancing service. Different types of CHP integrations
Liu proposed an optimization model for economic dispatch problem, in along with various operating conditions were considered and compared
which the uncertainty of wind power was considered by stochastic in this research work. The day-ahead dispatch procedure was based on a
modeling [107]. In this study, a great deal of efforts was made to model previous research work on evaluation of heat pumps and electrical
and solve the optimization issues associated with the CHP system. boilers in an energy system [110]. The scheduling framework included
Further, the influence of stochastic prediction of wind power was six stages and it involved forecasting the thermal energy demand, col
characterized with the probability distribution. In particular, this lecting daily bids, and implementing the optimal heat dispatch (Fig. 24).
method did not employ the average of random variables so as to prevent In this study, heat production was given the priority over the power
the probabilistic infeasibility; instead, the author introduced a reliability generation as satisfying the thermal demand was the main objective.
factor (ra ) into the constraint with the intention to distinguish the The authors improved the flexibility of the system in both heating and
tolerance of total power demand in case of any shortages in wind power power sectors. In the heating sector, variations of the thermal energy
generation. The impact of ‘ra ’ on the system was numerically evaluated consumption and the cost of electricity were taken into consideration so
and it was concluded that a higher value would raise the wind power as to reduce the cost of heat generation, whereas, in the power sector
insufficiency, while requiring higher thermal demand. The novelty of they attempted to reduce the inflexibility by enhancing the power
this work was evaluation of modeling instead of proposing or improving imbalance as a direct consequence of wind power forecast error. The
an algorithm. Another innovative solution to the economic dispatch proposed model was a two-stage optimization process that would allow
problem was suggested in Ref. [108]. In this research, authors developed cost minimization in heat supply in the first stage and extending this
a stochastic multi-objective model for a cogeneration system to mini procedure by taking advantage of the excess flexibility to integrate wind
mize the operating costs and harmful gas emissions. They explained the power in the second stage. First stage was allocated to the optimization
structure of the system by categorizing the thermal units into three of heat generation and its associated cost. At this stage, the marginal cost
groups of cogenerations, heat-only, and electrical-only. The imple was optimized using the daily rate and the day-ahead electricity price,
mented CHP system for this study was considered with an extraction- while the hourly production and consumption of heat was balanced
condenser turbine in order to benefit from its “Feasible Operation Re using the energy profile. On the other hand, the second stage was a
gion” on power-heat diagram. Furthermore, they introduced Particle redispatch model that included the real-time parameters of wind power
Swarm Optimization (PSO) for solving the economic dispatch problem. forecast and generation-consumption balance for both power and heat
The most important aspect of this algorithm was extraction of non- sectors. For further validation of the model, the framework was
dominated solutions during each performed iteration. Concerning the employed in two case studies; one evaluating the performance of the
system’s validity, the model was employed in an IEEE 30-bus network, system throughout the year on hourly basis, and the other one analyzing
and a comparison was drawn between three well-known techniques, the redispatch model for real-time performance in accordance with the
namely: PSO, Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Weighted Aggregation day-ahead schedule. Interestingly, the bypass operation did not affect
Fmincon (WAF). The simulation results presented that the increasing the daily heat cost for the back-pressure CHP unit (Fig. 25). The average
CO2 reduction was associated with higher operating cost. This operating price was lower during winter, since the minimum generation limit of
cost was the highest for CHP operation only, whereas, it was the lowest the backpressure unit was lower in high heating demand periods. On the
for the CHP integration with wind power of 120$/power unit (pu). Since contrary, the implementation of extraction CHP unit in autumn could be
the simulation was carried out for three wind power costs, including: more beneficial due to the highest rate of electricity price and high-
120$/pu, 150$/pu, and 180$/pu, the results indicated that the carbon power generation rate during this season. All year round, it was
Fig. 22. LCOE price of the single-pressure recuperated ORC with ACC (a) and WCT (b) as the function of inlet temperature variation [99].
21
Table 3
Summary of research works on geothermal integration into CHP systems.
Research Prime Mover/ Additional Materials and Methods Power/Heat output Key findings
Fuel Components
[42] ORC Heat exchanger, Simulation in Python Depending on the Exergy efficiency of the optimal plant was higher than the stand-
Brine superheater scenario alone ORC electrical plant. For low-temperature DH system series
Power: 3–4.8 MW cycles are better suited, while for high-temperature one parallel
Heat: 5, 10, 20 MW cycle is better. In general, series–parallel (HB4) had the best
(assumed constant) performance.
[82] Gas Turbine GSHP, heat exchanger Simulation in ASPEN Power: 3443 kW Series integrated GSHP-CHP configurations could achieve higher
Natural Gas PLUS Heat: 17559 kW exergy efficiency and lower power consumption by GSHP sub-
system. Configuring the system for heat-only generation could yield
an efficiency of 183% with 34.7% energy saving.
[83] Gas Turbine GSHP, heat exchanger Simulation in ASPEN Power: 3506 kW Series integrated GSHP-CHP configurations could achieve higher
Natural Gas PLUS Heat: 21000 kW exergy efficiency and lower power consumption by GSHP sub-
system. Configuring the system for heat-only generation could yield
an efficiency of 183% with 34.7% energy saving.
[84] ICE AHP, GSHP, heat Simulation in EES and Power: 100 kW Supplying space heating demand with mixed water from GSHP and
Natural Gas exchanger DeST Heat: 605 kW AHP units could improve the output and COP. An optimal allocation
ratio could result in considerable economic benefits.
[86] Parallel ORC economizer, Simulation in Python Depending on the In REF scenario, the fixed prices method resulted in highest
Brine evaporator and scenario revenue. In SUP scenario, this method resulted in better costing for
superheater Power: 1.37–2.77 MW low-temperature DH network, whereas the Exergy method had the
Heat: 5, 10, 20 MW highest revenue for high-temperature one.
(assumed constant)
[87] ORC Heating system, CasADi optimization Depending on the Series cycle has the best performance when it is coupled with 65/40
Brine economizer, framework in Python scenario DH network with high heating demand. HB4 configuration is more
evaporator Power: 2–3.4 MW appropriate for connection to 90/60DH network with low heating
(max) demand.
Heat: 5, 10, 20 MW
(assumed constant)
[88] Parallel ORC IHE, three-stage MINLP model in GAMS Depending on the Decreasing the temperature would cause a significant reduction in
Brine heater, three-stage scenario power generation and therefore profit. Decreasing mass flow rate
cooler Power: 1977–2736 would result a significant reduction in heat generation.
kW
Heat: 19343–22197
kW
[89] ORC economizer, CasADi optimization in Depending on the Recuperated ORC shows better performance in terms of
Brine evaporator and Python scenario thermodynamic and economic point of view. Price of heat would
superheater Power: 2.70–3.15 MW mostly determine the actual revenue and NPV.
Heat: 2.76 MW
(assumed constant)
[91] ORC Heating system Simulation in Python Depending on the While the operation of series cycle is better suited for connection to
Brine scenario a low-temperature DH network, parallel cycles is better suited for
Power: 4.77–6.18 MW high-temperature one. Deploying a recuperator is beneficial when
Heat: 3, 6, 9 MW the ORC outlet temperature is limited.
(constant)
[92] ORC Heating system Simulation in MATLAB Depending on the HB2 and HB4 had promising performances in terms of energy and
Brine scenario exergy. For maximizing the power output while maintaining the
Power: 1.8–10.2 kW heat source utilization as high as possible, HB4 configuration was
Heat: 110–170 kW the best.
[94] ORC Recuperation, Turbine Simulation in Python NA In terms of performance transcritical and multi-pressure subcritical
Brine bleeding cycles are more promising. To improve exergy efficiency, cooling
the brine as much as possible can be a great approach.
[95] Parallel ORC Heating system Simulation in MATLAB Depending on the Power production decreased by increasing the heating plant
scenario parameters. Decreasing the return temperature can improve the
Power: 3.18–6.85 kW exergy efficiency of the plant. Increasing heating demand would
Heat: 150 kW impact power production negatively, while it increases heat source
utilization.
[97] ORC Water heating system Simulation in MATLAB Power: 32.593 MW Vapor-to-water ratio can impact the system’s capacity significantly.
Raw natural gas Plant size and total capital investment (TCI) cost are directly
Brine proportional, however, TCI estimation per unit kW tends to be
higher for mid- and low-range plant size.
[98] ORC Evaporator, Receiving Modified productive Power: 20 kW The unit cost of electricity is inversely proportional to the exergy
Brine tank structure analysis efficiency, whereas, directly with the supplied heat to the
method evaporator.
[99] Single and Air-cooled condenser, Simulation in Python Depending on the The economic advantages such as lower investment cost of wet-
double pressure wet-cooling tower scenario cooling tower, makes this approach more interesting over air-
ORC Power: 3–9 MW cooling. Brine temperature can reduce the LCOE as it increases,
Brine while dry-bulb temperature increases the LCOE.
[100] Single and Air-cooled condenser Simulation in Python Depending on the Air-cooled condenser can impact the thermodynamic and economic
double pressure scenario performance of the system significantly. Brine temperature and
ORC Power: 2–10 MW annual electricity price are influencing parameters on ORC
performance
22
demonstrated that the backpressure CHP unit was allocated the upper step to model the residential HES, the home appliances were categorized
most value of annual heat cost, whereas, the extraction CHP with one into two primary groups including: interruption and transitivity based
power loss factor had the lowest value. In addition, the deployment of on the power characteristic. In the second stage to formulate the
Heat Accumulator (HA) in all the arrangements reduced the annual heat aggregated model of demand, the graph of electricity price based on
cost further. The HA was capable of charging and discharging depending electricity consumption at a certain time was plotted with the intention
on the heating demand. It was also capable of operating on idle mode to obtain the consumer demand bidding curve. This price was the input
during low demands, when it was coupled with the extraction CHP unit. to the residential load model to evaluate the individual behavior based
The results clearly showed that the bypass operation of backpressure on the consumption, hence, achieving the individual bidding curve.
CHP was more advantageous for instant utilization of wind generation. Since no constraints were assumed for the transmission line, the com
This operating mode could achieve the lowest energy imbalance ratio for bination of all individual demand would produce the global demand
the period of high-heat load profile, particularly in winter and spring. bidding curve at a certain time, which then could be repeated for other
On the contrary, the extraction CHP with power loss factor obtained a time intervals in sequence. In addition, the economic dispatch model
better imbalance ratio during summer as the result of lower power was employed by uploading the demand bidding curve and the supply
generation, therefore, a higher wind power share could be achieved. In bidding curve to the ISO. Concisely, the proposed model was employed
general, the performance of backpressure CHP in bypass-mode and the in two test systems including: a 6-bus and an IEEE 118-bus for evalua
extraction CHP with power loss factors (both systems with HA) were tion and validation purposes. It is worth mentioning that the simulation
evaluated and compared. Decisively, the instantaneous over- and under- was carried out based on several preliminary assumptions such as con
generation of wind power could be balanced by bypass operation mode. stant gas price, equal sale- and purchase-electricity price, and only
Altogether, the HA and bypass-mode could improve the overall flexi 33.33% HES deployment rate. In the first test-system, installed capacity
bility of the system and deliver lower daily heat cost. of heat generation and wind farm were measured at 420 MWth and 200
Optimizing the operation of wind power systems and solving the MWe, respectively. The suggested prime mover for the micro-CHP sys
economic dispatch problem can be done by targeting the consumers and tem was a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) with 3 kWe
involving them in this matter. In residential sector, controlling and output power, and the TES unit was assumed to be a 150 L hot-water
monitoring the energy demand can provide a great opportunity for the (68–72 ℃) tank. The simulation results illustrated that the increasing
utility grid to account for the variations and daily consumption so as electricity price would result in a gradual reduction of purchased elec
schedule the power system in a way to increase renewable penetration tricity from the power grid. Similarly, the wind power forecast was
as much as possible. In this context, authors in Ref. [111] designed an inversely proportional with the electricity price as well (Fig. 26). Owing
optimization model by considering the regulating ability of a residential to the fact that the wind power generation would cost less compared to
Hybrid Energy System (HES). The home appliances, micro-CHP unit, the other methods, during windy hours the electricity price experienced
and large-scale wind power system were integrated to form the HES a reduction in value, whereas, this was reversed during low wind power
structure. To this end, the appliances were managed by a Home Energy output. Implementing HES in residential sector presented promising
Management System (HEMS) that was installed in the smart meter in results, in which it could adjust the micro-CHP and home appliances
order to minimize the residential energy cost and satisfy the consumer operation during wind power fluctuations. This system was capable of
demand by optimizing the performance of appliances. Meanwhile, the identifying the best hours for purchasing electricity from the grid or
micro-CHP unit was comprised of a gas turbine, an auxiliary burner for increasing the micro-CHP output in the others, depending on the wind
additional heat supply, and a TES. The novelty of this day-ahead sto power output. Further, the system demonstrated interesting results in
chastic dispatch model was lied beneath the innovative interaction be terms of the wind power curtailment. The HES was capable of decreasing
tween the HES and power grid. In the proposed framework, the the curtailment by 78% on an average day. Additional reduction could
residential demand could be satisfied by the micro-CHP unit and im be acquired by increasing the demand response ratio. In summary, the
ported power from the grid. At the residential level, a unique method demand response-based model was economically and thermodynami
(load aggregation) was employed to centralize the scattered load de cally validated. The model decreased the cost associated with the sys
mands, while at the power grid level the stochastic dispatch model tem’s operation, while increasing the wind power utilization.
investigated the influence of HES on wind power utilization. The
objective was to exploit the social surplus as much as possible, whilst 3.3.2. Flexibility and minimizing curtailment
considering the demand response. The total social surplus was calcu One of the main challenges associated with renewable generation
lated as the sum of all producers’ and all consumers’ surplus. In the first and its further development is variability and uncertainty. Flexibility of
operation and stability of power supply are the two important factors
that indicate the reliability and feasibility of any energy system. When
integrating renewable sources into power systems, one should account
for the uncertainties that these resources introduce to the system. In this
regard, renewable generations such as wind power that require every-
day forecasting are connected to the main grid, or integrated with
other reliable sources of energy such as CHP systems. Lack of grid
flexibility is one the reasons that renewable generation, particularly
wind power, are associated with curtailment. This is due to the fact that
lack of flexibility prevents the power system from accommodating more
renewable generation and causing reliability challenges such as
curtailment of firm load [112]. There exist various methods that can
increase the operational flexibility of a power system. These techniques
are usually involved with integration or coupling of a power system with
other generating systems or sectors. In one the studies conducted by
Pilpola and D.Lund in Ref. [113], all possible flexibility options were
assessed in order to acquire the most effective operating system that can
accommodate wind power integration efficiently. They analyzed sector
Fig. 23. Influence of CO2 reduction on total cost of the CHP for different wind coupling techniques, such as but not limited to power-to-heat, power-to-
power cost [108]. gas, and vehicle-to-grid. Their developed model was based on another
23
Fig. 24. Proposed day-ahead dispatch for the Copenhagen plant [109].
Fig. 25. Daily heat cost of the CHP plant without HA (a) and with HA (b) [109].
research work (Ref. [114]), and their objectives were to achieve cost wind power share for both constant and variable CHP production was
effectiveness and optimal operation, while satisfying supply/demand obtained at 29% and 37%, respectively. This increasing share was
balance and overcoming all given constraints. The given structure balanced by increasing the power export and reducing the conventional
classified the primary energy conversion into two steps involving: con generation, particularly in variable generation scenario. Similarly, the
ventional conversion, where the primary sources would convert to heat production in variable CHP system was decreased by 25 TW h in a
power and heat, and advanced conversion, where the final energy forms year as well. Interestingly, implementation of heat pumps, electrical
such as electricity, heat and fuel had to be matched with the actual boilers, or CHP units were selected as the superior options for thermal
demand (Fig. 27). The input data for the optimization model were energy generation. This allowed a better and more efficient utilization of
assumed to be the reference scenario effected by National Energy and renewable energy sources. In general, power-to-heat option presented
Climate Strategy 2030 in Finland. In the projected data, the share of encouraging results regarding the flexibility and optimization of the
renewable energy in total consumption and the share of CHP in heat system. This method increased the heat production value by 12 TW h
supply were assumed to be 8% and 39%, respectively. Unfortunately, when using heat pumps, decreased CHP thermal generation by 15 TW h
the wind power uncertainty was not considered in this study, therefore, when operating on variable production, improved wind power utiliza
the wind power generation rate was suggested based on its predicted tion by 9 TW h, and lowered the annual cost and CO2 emissions by 9%
potential according to the Wind Power Association. Meanwhile with and 28%, respectively. This technique was selected as the most viable
using power-to-heat flexibility option, electrical boilers and heat pumps flexibility option for wind curtailment reduction.
were deployed as variables in the optimization model. In addition, the Inflexible operation of CHP plants leads to a large amount of wind
CHP operation was evaluated with regards to the lock-in effect in two power curtailments, particularly during winter due to higher heating
scenarios inducing: constant production and variable production. The demand. Scheduling the operation of systems concerning operating
constant production illustrated a reduction of 2% in total primary en hours, operating units, and demand response can be a great approach in
ergy consumption, whilst this value was slightly higher for the variable this regard. Seminal contributions were made by researchers in
CHP generation. In several cases, including power-to-heat method, the Ref. [115] to schedule a day-ahead plan for an IES comprising of CHP
wind power generation was limited at approximately 9 TW h due to the and wind power. In the suggested model, thermal inertia of the buildings
transmission capacity. Further, the changes in power production with was considered and the operating strategy was evaluated under constant
respect to the flexibility options were evaluated and compared for mass flow rate and variable temperature. The objective was set to
different cases (Fig. 28). It was shown that the wind power penetration investigate the influence of thermal inertia on wind power curtailment.
could be ranged between 11 and 37%, depending on the flexibility op It was described that the thermal inertial of the building was the amount
tion. By employing power-to-heat technique, the highest amount of of thermal mass within a building envelope, which could reduce the
24
indoor temperature fluctuations and delay the air temperature mini Many studies established the benefits of developing Electrical
mum and maximum. The day-ahead plan was scheduled with the pur Heaters (EH) and Heat Storage units (HS) in CHP systems aiming at
pose of minimizing the costs of operation. Further, the plan was operational flexibility enhancement. In Ref. [116], authors investigated
analyzed and validated by implementing it in two case studies, this subject by analyzing the operational constraints linked to power
including: a 6-bus/6-node power and heating system and IEEE 39-bus units, EH units, and HS units in an IES. Unlike other studies, the research
power system. In the proposed structure, the heating sector was con work was conducted regarding the capacity and distribution optimiza
sisted of heat generating units, heating pipelines network, and heat tion rather than capacity optimization only. In this context, a radical
loads. Meanwhile, the aggregated model of buildings was presented as MILP was formulated to solve the optimization problem and achieve
an RC design. The thermal resistance was assumed as “R” for the purpose optimal capacity and distribution values. Furthermore, the concept of
of transmitting thermal energy, and its capacity as “C” for the purpose of “generalized energy storage” and influence factors on system operation
preserving thermal energy. Moreover, mathematical relationships for were discussed and investigated as well. The suggested model was
the heat capacity of the walls were formulated, and the effects of wall comprised of eight buses connected with transmission lines, in which the
temperature, solar radiation, and outdoor temperature were investi electrical power was supplied by thermal plant, CHP plant, and wind
gated. With this regard, the day-ahead plan was scheduled based on turbines (Fig. 30 (a)). Considering the wind power curtailment, it was
power and heat demand. In the operating strategy, the mass flow rate discussed that a back-pressure CHP plant was the best possible approach
and the variable temperature were assumed to be constant, taking to compensate for this downside. Meanwhile, the EH and HS units were
advantage of linearized equation for more convenience and the practical deployed in each bus to avoid any thermal energy losses due to the
feasibility of this method. Concerning the validation of the system, the transmission (Fig. 30 (b)). In the initial stages of the optimization, non-
day-ahead plan was programmed aiming at operational costs minimi linear constraints of transmission and HS units were subjected to line
zation and it was implemented in two case studies. The first case was arized method and expressed in linear forms. Further, the optimization
based on a previous research work, where 6 buses and 6 nodes were variables were categorized into three groups including: objective vari
assumed for the electricity and heating systems [50]. Meanwhile, the ables, real-time power variables, and linearized variables. At last, the
day-ahead plan was applied for a typical day during winter, which the objective function was introduced to maximize the economic profits by
optimal indoor temperature was ranged between 20 and 25 ℃. In replacing the heat loads, increase the thermal power plant generation in
addition, two case scenarios were presumed so as to verify the opera case of no wind power curtailment, and invest in EH and HS units.
tional feasibility of thermal inertia in power and DH sectors as well as its Interestingly, the simulation of the practical system demonstrated a
impact on wind power curtailment. In case-3, the indoor temperature special feature in some implemented buses in the structure. In accor
was set on a constant value of 23℃, therefore, the aggregated model of dance with the obtained results, the input and output energy rates of
buildings could not participate in the day-ahead plan. On the contrary in some buses were relatively small compared with others. This indicated
case-4, the indoor temperature was assumed as a changing variable that that the average of transmitted power was considerably less than the
was ranging between 20 and 25℃ for the convenience of the households average of absolute transmitted power. Nonetheless, such buses were
(Fig. 29 (a)). The promising results illustrated that the operating cost of capable of providing regulating ability in a power system by supplying
the system could reduce by 8.5%, if the thermal inertia of the aggregated energy or receiving redundant energy to or from other buses. In this
buildings had been taken into account. Similarly, since the indoor system, the capacity of bus-5 was greater due to the fact that it included
temperature was presumed as a changing variable to satisfy the house the thermal power plant. While other buses were utilizing wind power,
holds need, the intensity of heat generation by the CHP unit was bus-5 had a similar characteristic as a storage device that could receive
reduced, resulting in lower total output heat. On the other hand, the energy during windy hours or supply energy during no wind curtail
electricity generation via wind turbines experienced 10.6% increase in ment. This feature was described as “generalized energy storage”. The
value, which then proved the reduction in wind power curtailment and research was concluded by evaluating the influence of coal price, the
the operating viability of case-4 (Fig. 29 (b)). In general, the thermal price of EH, and the price of HS in terms of the annual profit. It was
inertial of aggregated buildings promoted more electricity generation by evident that the effect of coal price on the system was nearly twice as the
wind power. As it was clearly indicated, the power output of wind tur impact of HS and four times of EH units.
bines during hours 1 to 9 was 20–25% higher, compared to that of CHP In a similar approach to previous studies, another research was
units. However, the CHP power output of case-4 was 10–12% lower carried out in China to inspect the benefits of EH and HS units deploy
compared to case-3 during the aforementioned hours. Comparably, the ment in a CHP system [48]. In this context, a linear model was proposed
implementation of this scheduling program on IEEE 39-bus system had by investigating the charging and discharging process of a HS tank, and
similar outcomes as the 6-bus test system.
Fig. 26. Influence of wind power penetration on electricity price [111]. Fig. 27. Block diagram of the proposed optimization model [113].
25
DH imbalances. To validate the design, the model was applied to a 6-bus

system similar to that of Ref. [116]. In this study, two conventional
units, two CHP units, and a wind farm were implemented as the power
source. The minimum limit of CHP power generation was set to account
for 50% of total power demand, while the wind power generation share
was as low as 20%. In terms of thermal energy generation, the heating
demand was supplied using CHP-1 and CHP-2 units. While CHP-1 was
integrated with a coal-fired boiler to satisfy thermal energy demand in
DH-I network, CHP-2 was the only unit that was allocated to DH-II
network. Four different scenarios were drawn to assess the perfor
mance the DH-II network. The first scenario considered CHP-2 as the
only unit for supplying heating demand. Further in the second, third and
fourth scenario, the implementation of electrical boiler, heat storage
tank, and both in one scenario were carried out, respectively. The second
and fourth scenario presented promising results concerning reduction of
Fig. 28. Changes in net power output compared to the reference case (Finland wind power curtailment. Conversely, due to absence of other heating
2030). Striped columns present constant CHP. Solid columns present variable
sources in the first scenario, the wind power curtailment was higher
CHP [113].
during the off-peak hours. This was the direct consequence of heating
supply which caused the CHP minimal output to be constrained at
also considering the interior water temperature fluctuations. Further, a around 150 MWe during this period (Fig. 31 (a)). Further, by connecting
centralized dispatch model was developed for the IES to improve the the electrical boiler to the DH-II network in the second scenario, the
operational flexibility by implementing EH and HS units in order to power output of CHP-2 unit was decreased inevitably, resulting in an
increase wind power utilization share. This proposed model was capable expansion of wind power share during off-peak periods. The same in
of balancing power and heat generation output by optimizing all the fluence was illustrated for the integration of heat storage tank into the
sources. In terms of the HS operating procedure, the charging and dis thermal network. Unexpectedly, the combination of both electrical
charging process had direct impact on the interior water temperature. boiler and heat storage unit did not affect the wind power curtailment
The HS connection to the heat source and heating system divided the any further and the power production rate was almost the same.
storage tank into three gradations, including: high-temperature (supply Considering the required thermal demand, the power production in the
network) water at the top, varying-temperature water in the middle, and first scenario could only be limited to its lowest value at 150 MWe, since
low-temperature (return pipeline) water at the lower end. When the the CHP-2 unit was the only heat provider in the network. However, by
pumps would inject high-temperature water into the tank during the deploying the electrical boiler or heat storage tank as an auxiliary
charging process, the middle layer tended to go down, whereas, this was heating source in the DH-II network, the power generation rate was
reversed during the discharging process. Since the water in the middle reduced to its minimum value at 90 MWe, with the remaining balance
layer could not be reinjected into the supply network, it would cause supplied by the wind power. Concerning the wind power curtailment
major energy losses during charging and discharging processes. To this ratio in each scenario, the CHP-2 stand-alone operation led to 34.9% of
end, this energy loss was modeled mathematically so as to be account for the total wind power output. Remarkably, this ratio was decreased to
in the operation. Further on, the deployment of electrical boiler into heat 5.6% and 15.3% when the electrical boiler and heat storage tank started
production was able to increase the maximum level of heat energy to operate in the second and third scenario, respectively (Fig. 31 (b)). On
generation. With regards to the feasible operating area of the CHP sys the contrary, even though the electrical boiler option was more prom
tem, the electrical boiler expanded the heat production level at a given ising in reduction of wind power curtailment, but the heat storage tank
power output. Likewise, when the heat storage tank integrated in the was better suited for energy savings (coal consumption). Exploiting 1
system, the output limits increased in accordance with the HS capacity. MWh of wind power could substitute 0.13 tons of coal for the electrical
The overall objective of this research was to minimize the fuel con boiler implementation, while this value was 0.20 tons for that of HS
sumption by improving the wind power share and reducing its curtail tank. On the other hand, the best possible solution was chosen to be the
ment, while considering the associated constraints such as power and
Fig. 29. Indoor temperature (a) and power output of CHP unit and wind turbines (b) in two case scenarios [115].
26
fourth scenario, which both HS and electrical boiler were connected to 4.1. Economic dispatch and scheduling
the district heating system. In this case, the coal consumption could be
reduced by 0.19 tones per 1 MWh of wind power generation, during Concerning the scheduling of RES-CHP systems to obtain the best
which, the curtailment ratio could be maintained as same as the second efficiency and performance with different utilized renewable sources,
scenario. several studies such as Ref. [117] were elaborated on this subject. The
formulated stochastic model in Ref. [117] was suggested for a PEMFC-
3.3.3. Summary of preliminary research works CHP configuration in a microgrid network, in which wind and solar
In Table 4, wind-integrated CHP systems are summarized. Coupling energy generation were considered as well. Interestingly, to solve the
wind power and CHP systems can make for a very strong solution stochastic scheduling problem, MFA approach was used since the co
regarding flexibility and curtailment reduction. Since CHP systems can ordinated operation of PEMFC-CHP, wind turbines, PV modules, and
satisfy two energy demands simultaneously, energy sequence can be thermal units required mixed integer nonlinear programming. In this
switched in CHP systems in order to priorities heating during high wind stochastic problem, the variations and uncertainties of wind speed, solar
availability, or electricity during lower wind power generation. Variable irradiance, and electricity price were taken in to account in order to
wind power provides the opportunity for the adjustable CHP resources guarantee the reliability of the system. Further on, it was verified that
to continue to operate at their rated generating level rather than shutting the proposed MFA could achieve the highest total profit, and as the
down. In most cases, CHP operation for reduction of wind curtailment participation of MG in electricity market was increased this algorithm
was the primary objective. Most of the case studies were conducted for could deliver better performance over other available methods. Another
large-scale applications, therefore, CHP units are generally conventional research work, which was carried out by the same authors on the same
fossil fuel-based or natural gas-based plants. Since wind power is one of subject, a stochastic model was formulated for coordinated scheduling
the largest and most utilized RES around the globe, optimizing the of an IES containing wind turbines, PV panels, and CHP units [118]. The
operation to reduce curtailments and improve flexibility are the main objective function was still the same, whereas, the suggested technique
focus in this field. Moreover, the main intention for reducing wind was different. In this study, a modified PSO algorithm was developed to
curtailments is to improve economic viability and justify the capital- solve the stochastic problem. Majority of practical and implemented
intensive nature of this renewable technology. Each study adopted cogeneration systems still operate on fossil fuels, and consequently, they
different techniques to present the most appropriate optimization model are associated with emissions and environmental impacts. Over the past
considering the situation and conditions of that certain location. Some decades, researchers have emphasized the importance of economic and
studies employed various methods to draw a comparison and determine environmental aspects of such systems and tried to improve the overall
the best possible approach. Provided that majority of studies elaborated performance with regards to this matter. Alomoush at al. was one of the
on economic dispatch formulation, MATLAB and CPLEX were two pri researchers who attempted to solve the economic-emission dispatch
mary software for formulation purposes. problem of a CHP system in a MG network [119]. In his research, the
suggested MG was relatively large and it contained different types of
4. Utilization of renewable energies for cogeneration CHP units in terms of prime mover technology, including: gas turbine,
application (Multiple integration) micro-turbine, diesel generators, and fuel cells. Apart from wind tur
bines and solar panels, conventional power- and heat-only units were
Correlation between RES and CHP is not limited to utilization of one also considered. The multi-objective function included: unit operating
particular renewable energy. In fact, in energy integrated systems cost, cost of electricity purchase from the grid, emission rate, and
multiple renewable sources can be integrated with CHP in order to in emission penalty. It was proved that the outcomes of such configuration
crease the share of renewable generation, provide better flexibility, depended on the implemented method (solver) and the objective func
compensate for renewable uncertainties, and in general, replace fossil tion being assumed. In general, the author developed two approaches for
fuel consumption as much as possible. Various studies implemented solving the multi-objective optimization problem. In the first approach,
hybrid energy systems mainly to utilize multiple RESs in form of a fuel the economic and emission objectives were formed a single-objective
for generation, such as biomass in gasification processes or geothermal function, while in the second approach, the two objective functions
in ORC systems, or increase the overall flexibility of the system, such as were solved simultaneously. It was illustrated that the cost and associ
integration of CHP with wind turbines and solar PV panels. In recent ated emissions with the MG were two conflicting objective functions.
years, the main purpose to develop energy systems with various Moreover, the results of single and multi-objective solutions could
renewable resources has been improving economic aspects, particularly conflict considerably. To this end, a post-solution decision making
in the residential sector, in order to encourage investors for further de program was formulated for the MG operator in order to select the best
velopments. In this section, several preliminary works which elaborated solutions based on the preferences or priorities of the system. Finally, the
on both objectives are evaluated. This section provides a great under comparison of two methods indicated the fact that the single-objective
standing of model development, optimization, and preferable renewable solver could yield a better compromise solution, while maintaining its
resources for integration. simplicity and effectiveness.
Fig. 30. A simplified structure of an 8-bus power grid (a) and the structure of an electrical heater and heat storage unit [116].
27
Fig. 31. Power balance (a) and power and heat production of CHP units (b) in four scenarios [52].
In an alternative approach to develop a powerful scheduling tool (TAC) could increase significantly if PV-thermal and TES would not be
comprising of unit commitment and economic dispatch, authors in considered in the system. Same increase was observed for the case in
Ref. [120] presented a three-level optimization framework for an In which wind turbines and electrical heater were not presented. More
dustrial Microgrid (IMG) network. The suggested IMG was comprised of over, the proposed optimization was also evaluated by comparing it to
renewable technologies, including: solar PV panels and wind turbines, several other techniques in terms of convergence and computational
CHP units, and thermal and electrical energy storage facilities. The time. A practical implementation of RES-CHP integrated systems was
objective of this research was to minimize the estimated cost of IMG by suggested in wastewater treatment plants for sewage sludge drying
structuring a Security Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC) frame process [123]. The primary objectives were to improve the sustainability
work. To this end, authors decided to maximize the revenue of the and energy self-efficiency of the facility by integrating a HES containing
network by formulating an optimized day-ahead schedule. This opti biomass gasification and solar panels. Biogas was the source of elec
mization model was comprised of three levels, in which the first level tricity and heat generation which was utilized in the CHP unit. In
attempted to maximize the IMG revenue by finding the optimized unit addition, solar energy could be exploited via parabolic trough collector
scheduling. Further, the second level of optimization model was allo plates. The generated electricity could power the facilities, while the
cated to determination of accepted bids in the day-ahead power market produced thermal energy was utilized in thermal drying and anaerobic
and solving the SCUC; hence, minimizing the upper grid operation and digestion processes. The simulation results were compared with an
ensuring its security. lastly in the third level, a rescheduling was operational plant in Italy. It was presented that the proposed integration
formulated and solved based on the settled units and accepted bids. The could achieve 14.6% primary energy saving due to the implemented
simulation results which were based on two case studies (18-bus and 30- solar field. Additionally, the CHP and integrated solar system could also
bus test systems) proved that the transaction between IMG and power achieve a thermal efficiency of 44% and 56%, respectively. Model
grid was economically feasible for both networks. In another study, development and optimization of hybrid renewable energy systems is
similar renewable sources were implemented in a multi-region IES to another mainstream topic in the field of energy integration. Commonly,
solve the economic dispatch through newly developed Squirrel Search these systems are developed to increase renewable energy share, and
Algorithm (SSA) [121]. The evaluation of the suggested method was therefore, reduce or eliminate the fossil fuel intensity in remote com
done by drawing a comparison between SSA and other optimization munities. In one of the suggested models, multiple renewable resources
techniques, such Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO), PSO, Differential including: solar, wind, and biomass were integrated to create a hybrid
Evolution (DE) and Evolutionary Programming (EP). It was verified that renewable energy system [124]. Further, a multi-objective optimization
the SSA method could attain the best results, and therefore, was the best model was implemented in this configuration to understand the corre
approach for solving the economic dispatch of the solar/wind-CHP lation between its life-cycle cost and environmental impacts. The
system. uniqueness of the proposed model was its flexibility in terms of oper
ating conditions. One could adjust the system’s scale by changing the
4.2. Model development and optimization thermal and power demand, weather conditions, and component’s ef
ficiencies in order to achieve the design requirements that was required.
Thermal and electrical energy storage units can be a great help for The system’s strategy was divided into two sections based on the ther
improving system’s overall efficiency, reliability, and overall costs. In mal demand required by the district heating network. The biomass-fired
Ref. [122], a renewable energy-based CHP configuration, that was CHP system was fueled by wood chips, and it was responsible for the
comprised of PV-thermal panels, PV modules, wind turbines, electrical heat and electricity supply. Although, in winter the biomass-CHP system
heater, and thermal and electrical energy storage facilities, was devel was operating at full-load to satisfy the heat and electricity demand,
oped and optimized using PSO method. In this study, authors tried to however, during summer a vast portion of power demand was supplied
design an autonomous RES-CHP system that was capable of satisfying by wind turbines and PV panels. There existed times, when all the power
energy demand for building applications in remote areas. Through the sources were operating simultaneously to satisfy power demand during
optimization method, the energy management system was able to peak hours, whereas, during off-peaks the excess electricity could be
minimize the operational and maintenance costs of the system. The exported to the grid to provide additional revenue. Even though this
outcomes of such integration illustrated that the Total Annual Cost configuration was able to reduce the environmental impacts compared
28
Table 4
Summary of research works on wind integration into CHP systems.
Research Prime Mover/Fuel Additional Components Materials and Power/Heat output Key findings
Methods
[48] Conventional CHP Electrical boiler, heat Cumulative Depending on the Implementing electrical boiler and heat storage tanks in
storage tank, distribution function scenario the system can reduce the wind power curtailment
(CDF) CHP Power: 4.85 GW h: significantly. While electrical boiler can reduce wind
4.8 GW h curtailment, TES can provide more saving by reducing
Heat: 3.2 GW h every kW h wind curtailment.
[50] Conventional CHP Heat-exchanger station Simulation CHP Power: 30–70 MW The proposed CHP dispatch model (CHPD) could provide
implemented in Wind: 130 MW higher operating flexibility and lower the wind
MATLAB CHP Heat: 30–70 MW curtailments. The iterative algorithm is a good approach
for solving complicated nonlinear problems.
[107] Conventional CHP NA Simulation NA Introducing a reliability factor that represents the
implemented in reliability of power supply could reduce the risk of
MATLAB insufficient wind power, while increasing the heat
demand.
[108] Backpressure and Electrical- and heat-only Multi-objective PSO NA CO2 reduction and total cost of CHP system and wind
extraction CHP units in MATLAB power penetration are directly proportional. There exists
turbines an optimum value of CO2 reduction that maintains the
economic feasibility of the system.
[109] Steam extraction and Heat accumulator, biomass Wind power forecast Depending on the For better and flexible operation in winter and lower heat
backpressure boiler in windPRO scenario cost, backpressure CHP units are better suited. Operation
turbines CHP Power: 210 MW of heat accumulator can lower the daily heating cost on
Biomass Wind: 50–220 MW annual basis.
[110] Steam extraction and Heat accumulator, biomass MILP model in Depending on the Increasing the wind power penetration can result in lower
backpressure boiler CPLEX scenario electricity cost. Using advanced operational strategies can
turbines CHP Power: 12, 40 MW have potential cost savings from investing in electrical
Biomass (backpressure, boilers and heat storage units. Using deterministic
extraction) operational model is not appropriate for investment
CHP Heat: 250, 450 MW decision making since it leads to overestimation.
(backpressure,
extraction)
[111] PEMFC Water heater, smart meter MILP model in IBM Depending on the Wind power curtailment is inversely proportional with the
Natural gas ILOG CPLEX scenario ratio of demand response. Variation of electricity and gas
CHP Power: 3 kW consumption showed that at the peak value of electricity
Wind: 200 MW consumption the gas consumption is at the lowest point.
Heat: 420 MW
[113] NA Thermal and electrical Simulation in Excel Depending on the Sector coupling can increase wind utilization while
energy storage, electric scenario decreasing annual system cost and CO2 emissions.
vehicle smart charging Wind: 2–31 TW h Separate heat generation and heat pumps are more
preferable for cost-minimization purposes
[115] Conventional CHP heat-exchanger stations Quadratic Depending on the Thermal inertia of buildings can provide additional
programming (QP) scenario flexibility for the CHP system. Thermal inertial helps to
in CPLEX CHP Power: 2006–2174 reduce the curtailments associated with the wind power
MW and operating costs. Ambient temperature can affect the
Wind: 1097–1211 MW heat loads and consequently scheduling plan.
CHP Heat: 578–115 MW
to conventional generation, but it was associated with higher cost since based on the amount of captured CO2. The obtained results indicated
integrated renewables added installation and maintenance costs. How that the utilization of renewable energies in the investigated CCP facility
ever, by utilization of thermal energy, the system was able to reduce its depended on location and solar thermal technology, whereas, this was
payback period to only 9 years in comparison with other hybrid systems. not the case for NG-CHP system. The proposed system was capable of
One of the aspects in which environmental impacts are measured is capturing 74–94% of emitted CO2 in three different cities. Although this
GHG emissions. According to Climate Watch Online Platform, the pri study did not consider the possibility of integrating renewable energies
mary sources of GHG emissions are spread across different sectors with CHP units, but the outcomes marked the importance of renewable
including: electricity and heat production, manufacturing processes, energy utilization in industrial sector and proved the economic viability
transportation, and other fuel combustion. With increasing de of such integrations. As mentioned earlier, the electricity and heating
velopments in industry, the GHG emissions are set to increase due to consumption of residential sector also plays a vital role in environmental
higher energy consumption. Steel making is amongst the energy inten impacts. In an attempt to prove the viability of fully renewable energy
sive processes with the highest environmental impacts in industrial systems for supplying residential demands, a HES with hydrogen storage
sector. Manufacturing of steel products does not only impact environ capability was developed and analyzed in Ref. [127] to satisfy the needs
ment, but it also affects human health and depletion of non-renewable of a typical household. The authors designed and investigated the
energy sources [125]. In this regard, authors in Ref. [126] analyzed a operation of three different configurations including: a conventional
renewable-powered carbon capture plant from economic point of view. system with electricity and heat being generated separately, a system
The suggested analysis was based on two scenarios, in which the Carbon comprising of wind turbines, PV arrays, fuel cells, and resistive loads for
Capture Plant (CCP) was either powered by renewable technologies generating electricity and heat simultaneously, and analyzing the
including: wind turbines and solar thermal collectors, or Natural Gas- impact of thermal storage units in the last integration. The annual
fired CHP (NG-CHP) units. The case study was conducted in Australia electrical and thermal energy demand of 4160 kWe and 5550 kWth were
and the economic feasibility of both configurations were investigated in based on a typical household, located in Slovenia. The obtained results
terms of Cost of CO2 Avoidance (COA) and Net annual Benefit (NB) proved the possibility of a 100% renewable-powered CHP system for
29
residential purposes. However, the feasibility of such configuration was exchangers and then expanded in the multi-stage turbines in order to
relied on deployment of thermal storage and electrical heaters for con generate electricity. In addition, the TES unit was coupled with a heating
sistency and flexibility. Additionally, the authors discussed the impor system, such as solar collector or electrical boiler, for better and flexible
tance and advantages of such system by comparing it to a conventional heat supply during the high thermal demand period. After careful
method of generation regarding fossil fuel usage and operating cost. consideration of the operating constraints, the mathematical model of
Although the idea of developing fully renewable energy systems for AA-CAES, the equivalent linear formulas, and linear approximation of
residential demands seems easy to achieve, but implementing such nonlinear functions were developed. The CHP dispatch model was
systems requires acceptance of technical solutions by key developers formulated by involving AA-CAES and wind farm in the cogeneration
such as energy providers, building owners, and real-state investors. system. Given the fact that the wind power generation was associated
Concerning this issue, authors in Ref. [128] discussed the current status with uncertainty, they investigated three different approaches for pre
of renewable technologies and their acceptance in Finnish residential dicting the maximum and minimum limit of its production. ROS was the
sector. Their investigation was based on public surveys in order to first method to be evaluated, which presented a higher solving efficiency
determine the reliability, investment cost, and payback period of compared to the other options. In stochastic optimization, several sce
renewable-integrated buildings. Their proposed stochastic multicriteria narios were drawn to present the uncertainty of wind power, therefore,
acceptability analysis included 8 different energy generation methods the number of developed scenarios had direct impact on the quality of
such as PV panels, ground source heat pumps, and biomass-based CHP the solution. In this context, the higher number of scenarios could result
units. Surprisingly, the survey results indicated a strong acceptance and in more computational time and requirements. Alternatively, chance-
willingness of the society to invest in renewable energies. Overall, constrained optimization approach was the most promising method
ground heat pumps and solar heat for space heating were selected as the for balancing the economy and consistency of the system. This technique
most reliable options for both residence and investors, while CHP units was capable of utilizing random and fuzzy variables to describe the
were among the least favorable options due to availability, high in uncertainty of wind power. This method was employed in this research,
vestment, and relatively high payback period. and the objective of the dispatch model was extended to minimize the
operating cost. The proposed model was employed in an IEEE 188-bus
4.3. Compressed air energy storage for cogeneration application power system so as to be validated and compared in different sce
narios. IEEE test system contained 48 thermal generators, 5 wind farms,
In every energy system, energy storage is an important aspect which 6 CHP units along with 6 AA-CAES facilities. The power capacity of AA-
can provide both operating and economic benefits. Energy storage units CAES arrangement was assumed to be 50 MWe, which only 30 MWe of
not only can provide operational flexibility, by charging during low this rated power capacity could be discharged. The heat supply rate was
demands and discharging during high-peaks, but they can also deliver calculated at 30 MWth with 5 h of discharging potential. Based on the
financial profits by reducing energy generation. Many research works available capacity and operating parameters presumptions, the system
have emphasized the significance of this concept by evaluating different was studied in five different scenarios. In scenario-1, the operation of
types of energy storage units in various energy systems. Compressed Air AA-CAES system was not taken into account. In scenario-2, AA-CAES
Energy Storage (CAES) is a promising approach to store generated en was deployed only for power generation. In scenario-3, both electricity
ergy, particularly in this age where renewables like wind and solar are and heat generation were provided by AA-CAES facility. In scenario-4,
becoming prominent energy sources. Advanced Adiabatic Compressed each AA-CAES system was coupled with a solar collector field for bet
Air Energy Storage (AA-CAES) is a type of CAES technology, which ter and flexible operation. In scenario-5, each system was coupled with
research community has been realizing its application for CHP genera an electrical heater for better and flexible operation. Overall, comparing
tion just recently. There have been nominal contributions on configuring the first and second cases proved that the integration of AA-CAES facility
CAES systems for both electrical and thermal energy generation. Effec only for power generation could be a great approach towards curtail
tive integration of such systems with other renewable-powered systems ment and operating cost reductions. In scenario-2, the penalty of wind
can provide significant flexibility and higher renewable penetration. The curtailment was decreased significantly by 84% compared to scenario-1,
potential application of CAES for minimizing wind curtailment, or which correspondingly reduced the overall operating cost by 11% as
possible use of geothermal heat pumps and solar collectors in the system well. Further reduction was achieved by implementing AA-CAES system
makes for a very strong proposition. In future research works, we shall for both power and heat generation (Fig. 33). In this case, the penalty
see more innovative designs where such storage configurations are being was lowered by additional of 16.5% and the operating cost for another
implemented along with other renewable technologies for more efficient 5%. On the other hand, coupling the solar collectors in the fourth sce
renewable utilization as well as CHP generation. In this section, two nario did not impact the penalty of wind curtailment, however, it low
developed models are being investigated in which the first design ered the operating cost for additional of 2% comparing to the third case.
elaborated on wind curtailment reduction, while the second study Conversely, integrating the electrical heater in the last scenario facili
evaluated CAES performance for microgrid application. tated more reduction of wind curtailment penalty and operating cost.
In Ref. [129], authors investigated and proposed a dispatch model The penalty of wind curtailment and the overall operating cost reached
considering the operation of AA-CAES technology in integration with as low as $1352 and $1,415,228, respectively. The authors concluded
CHP units and wind turbines. The model of an AA-CAES was developed their study by explaining the influence of off-design on the performance
based on MILP algorithm and its advantages in reduction of wind of AA-CAES facility. They discussed the operation of the system during
curtailment as well as operating cost minimization were discussed hours 13 to 15, when the AA-CAES could not function efficiently due to
further. Moreover, the off-design performance of the presented AA-CAES higher expected state of charge than the actual state of charge. It was
was accounted for in the dispatch model, since the system’s parameters indicated that, ignoring the off-design performance led to over
such as isentropic efficiencies of compressors and turbines could result estimation of state of charge.
in noticeable changes. The suggested AA-CAES structure (Fig. 32) was In an attempt to develop a zero-carbon emission energy system, a
consisted of a two-stage compressor unit, a two-stage turbine unit, four Non-Supplementary Fired Compressed Air Energy Storage (NSF-CAES)
heat exchangers, and a thermal and an air reservoir storage tank. The was designed and simulated to combine both power and heat networks
multi-stage air compressors were capable of compressing ambient air in [130]. Although many studies investigated the performance of a CAES
two stages and store it in the air reservoir tanks. Meanwhile, the first two system under certain conditions or integrations, this study delivered
pair of heat exchangers would extract and store heat in form of hot water groundbreaking evaluations in terms of both pressure behavior and
in the TES tank. Subsequently, the high-pressure air, which was stored in temperature dynamic, aiming at improved flexibility. The authors
the air reservoir tank, would be heated by the second pair of heat introduced high exploitation of renewable energies as uncertainty and
30
system imbalance that could impact the voltage quality and reactive power generation was at its lowest share. Lastly, the impact of developed
power in power system. As a result, they formulated a day-ahead system on wind power curtailment was studied and it was concluded
schedule to minimize the curtailment associated with wind power, that the system was able to reduce the curtailment by 61%, and also
and cutdown the operating costs in order to promote the economic minimizing the operating cost by additional value of 3.32% compared to
feasibility of the suggested NSF-CAES facility. In the initial stage, they the separate performance of both power and thermal networks.
proposed a micro-integrated energy system that was identified as a zero-
carbon emission network. This network was capable of utilizing multiple
4.4. Summary of preliminary research works
energy sources to reduce the energy cost and emissions. The basis of the
system could be realized as a microgrid network, however, since
Table 5 gives an insight into integration of multiple RES into CHP
microgrids are only emphasized on power generation, the proposed
systems. It is clearly presented that wind and solar integration are the
system included heating network as well, in which NSF-CAES was
two primary sources in most of the preliminary research works. This is
assumed as the hub between these two sectors. Further, the NSF-CAES
due to the fact that these two resources are fully developed and their
configuration was presented with two-stage compressors and two-
share of generation is set to increasing every year. With increasing share
stage expansions in order to formulate a precise dispatch model by
of renewable generation, flexibility in operation and transmission are
considering pressure behaviors and thermal dynamics (Fig. 34). The
the two primary concerns in every country. Most of the researches
charging and discharging process of NSF-CAES followed similar steps as
focused on the flexibility of operation in order to benefit from increasing
the previous study. Firstly, the air compressors would increase the air
share of renewables, energy savings, and combination of both power and
pressure and store it into the air storage tanks. In this process, the system
heat sectors. Since renewable generations are associated with un
would utilize the off-peak electricity and curtailed wind power to
certainties, and consequently the amount of transmitted electricity
operate the two-stage compressors. The heat exchangers, along the
might vary over the time, flexibility of operation was the primary topic
compression path, would allow heat recovery and storage in form of
which was discussed in several studies. Developing 100% renewable
high-temperature oil. Meanwhile, electricity was generated by dis
energy systems was another interesting topic which was investigated as
charging high-pressure air in the preheaters and then expanding it in the
well. There are over thousand published papers between 2015 and 2020
two-stage turbines. In the preheating procedure, the stored thermal
which elaborated on renewable integration into CHP systems. Since this
energy in TES units could be utilized. Aforementioned, NSF-CAES was
study is a comprehensive review on this subject and gives a thorough
considered as a connection between the power and thermal network,
insight into each model, method, and results, adding references without
therefore, the system could satisfy the heating demand by use of stored
any evaluation was not an option. To this end, additional research ar
thermal energy and the integrated heat pumps. Additionally, the asso
ticles elaborating on this subject were reviewed and summarized in
ciated constraints with the heat pumps, heat loads, and heating and
Table 6 in order to account for the contributions of other preliminary
power distribution networks were considered in the eco-optimization
works in this field. This provides a great understanding of the current
dispatch model as well. Furthermore, the dispatch problem was math
status of RES-CHP configurations, and presents the problem realization,
ematically formulated and solved using MILP technique. Regarding the
materials and methods, and key findings. Without a doubt, solar and
validation of the system in practical operation, the suggested model was
wind energies have been the two most studied renewable sources. Ma
put to test in a 33-bus/8-node test system. The only coupling point be
jority of research works concentrated on IES development and optimi
tween the power and heat network was the NSF-CAES facility, since the
zation, in which increasing renewable penetration was the common
authors deployed the heat pumps on the main power grid. The simula
objective amongst them.
tion results delivered promising results regarding the commercial
application of this system. The obtained power and overall efficiency of
5. Future perspective
the system were 52.14% and 67.12%, respectively. Meanwhile, the NSF-
CAES was capable of adjusting the charging and discharging period
Predicting future might not be the brightness idea, but with clear
based on the off-peak and on-peak power consumption. The system
understanding of negative impacts of conventional energy generation on
would charge the TES unit and air reservoir tanks during hours 1 to 6
the planet and all living species on it, there is no doubt that CHP will be
when the wind power generation was at the highest peak, while it would
featured in all future energy scenarios. Over the past few years, research
discharge to generate electricity during hours 13 to 14 when the wind
community has been focused on improving flexibility of operation and
Fig. 32. Schematic structure of an AA-CAES integrated with EHS [129].
31
developing economic feasible models. Since renewable technologies are intensive nature of this renewable technology, it is of utmost importance
considered as modern generation, there exist rooms for developments. to improve, control, and guarantee the economic viability of wind power
With the increasing energy consumption, majority of developed coun for further developments. Currently, the fast pace of wind power inte
tries have employed various strategies targeting the reduction of GHG gration (both onshore and offshore) is way ahead of necessary infra
emissions, increasing renewable penetration, and energy transition. structure development, which caused insufficient wind generation on
Although in today’s world, high investment and operating cost of line. With development of reliable and highly efficient generators,
renewable technologies along with associated uncertainties of genera higher penetration of wind power and development of more wind farms
tion are the primary concerns in the energy sector. To this end, most will be possible if the necessary structure is there to accommodate. To
likely future projects will be focused on implementing flexible RES-CHP this end, wind curtailment reduction by means of energy integration will
systems that can accommodate growing share of variable renewables in remain one of the primary topics in this field. In the near future, there
large-scale and allows generation from multiple resources. Also, will be a need to go beyond wind power integration and target every
searching for alternative heating technologies such as ground source individual consumer as well as prosumer in the grid. Demand side
heat pumps will be another approach aiming at coupling energy sectors management will be a topic that brings significant contributions to this
and replacing conventional fossil fuel-based boilers in order to take a field and will result in better flexibility, stability, and economic feasi
step forward towards transition of energy. bility. Formulating more effective forecast strategies on both generation
Solar energy is without a doubt a major source of low-cost and low- and consumption sides will remain an important topic that will help
emission electricity, which is also considered a key player in 2030 and solving economic dispatch problem. Moreover, advancements in the
2050 strategies for satisfying the growing energy demand for electric field of energy storage will definitely help to improve the economic
mobility, thermal energy generation, and off-grid electrification. With aspects of this renewable energy. Thus, energy storage integration will
regards to the continuous advances in the solar cell technology, and be another interesting topic that will make this renewable energy to
rapid developments of efficient and affordable photovoltaic panels, solar appear more encouraging in the near future.
energy integration will witness a significant increase in installed ca The future of geothermal energy is heavily relied on our under
pacity to a point where it will dominate the wind power by 2025, hy standing of the geothermal reservoirs and our ability to predict their
dropower by 2030, and coal-fired plants capacity by 2040. There is no behavior under extensive and continuous energy production. The
doubt that the efficiency improvement and solar cell technology ad
vancements will remain one of the primary topics for the years to come.
Although we will witness seminal contributions on modern cell tech
nologies such as perovskites, but silicon technology might remain the
dominator of the market in residential and commercial sectors. In the
upcoming years, more solar PV panels will find their ways into house
holds and commercial buildings. While the use solar energy, particularly
distributed generation, introduces significant environmental benefits,
but its growing utilization will require additional necessities in both
household- and grid-scale. To this end, controlling distributed genera
tion in every household and flexibility of power systems for the utility
companies will remain primary as challenges. Trying to achieve the
solution which is affordable, reliable, and sustainable might not be
realistic or attainable at the moment. Thus, it is required to find a trade-
off between various issues which can still guarantee financial, envi
ronmental, and operational feasibility. In the near future, the energy
sector will mainly be focused on developing efficient and reliable reg
ulatory frameworks that allows and encourage distributed generation by
means of renewable technologies.
Similar to the solar energy, wind power will remain one of the largest
renewable resources on the planet. The primary and most significant
challenge with wind power development is the curtailment. This major
problem has raised concerns around the world, particularly in China and
the US, causing hesitations for further developments. Given the capital- Fig. 34. Schematic representation of the proposed NSF-CAES [130].
Fig. 33. Wind power curtailment without AA-CAES facility (a) and with 6 AA-CAES facilities (b) [129].
32
operational systems around the world that are powered using the challenges that should be addressed in both residential as well as
geothermal energy are not mature enough to validate the feasibility of industrial sector. Developing efficient and affordable geothermal-based
geothermal-based systems for energy generation. With ongoing research energy systems particularly for distributed generation is an important
and development projects, there is no doubt that the utilization of topic that should be given emphasis to.
geothermal energy will witness a considerable increase in the near
future. In recent years, this sustainable source of energy has attracted 6. Conclusion
the research community for further economic and thermodynamic im
provements. In this context, utilization efficiency has been one the pri Global warming and increasing energy demand have urged the en
mary topics in geothermal energy development. Current geothermal ergy sector to seek alternative methods for power and heat generation.
energy systems show utilization efficiencies ranging between 25% and In this regard, renewable generation and Combined Heat and Power
50%. In future research works, we will witness significant improvements (CHP) systems have been implemented to reduce fossil fuel intensity of
to heat-transfer coefficient and prime movers’ efficiency. Moreover, energy generation, decrease CO2 and GHG emissions, and increase
exploring the applications of this sustainable energy will introduce flexibility and renewable penetration. CHP or cogeneration system is a
seminal contributions to district heating and residential sector in type of structure that is capable of recovering the waste heat during
particular. In developed countries, providing the infrastructure for hot power production and utilizing it in different energy forms such as hot
water, space heating, and space cooling supply will allow extensive water and space heating in DH networks for residential applications, or
utilization of ground source heat pumps in district heating applications. as process heat for industrial purposes. Such energy systems can be
Although, economic feasibility and improvement will still remain one of categorized based on size, prime mover, and energy sequence, in which
Table 5
Summary of research works on multiple-RES integration into CHP systems.
Research Prime Additional Components Materials and Methods Power/Heat output Key findings
Mover/Fuel
[117] Wind, solar Wind turbines, PV, hydrogen Modified Firefly Algorithm PEMFC-CHP power: To improve operational reliability, the uncertainties
storage, thermal units, PEMFC 235 kW associated with wind and solar should be considered
Solar: 528 kW in the model. The use of MFA model requires lower
Wind: 800 kW computational time and iterations. Higher utilization
Heat: 1170 kW of RES results in lower imported electricity from the
grid.
[118] Wind, solar PV, wind turbines, thermal units Modified Particle Swarm PEMFC-CHP power: Decreasing natural gas consumption, increases profit
Optimization (MPSO) using 230 kW and emissions reduction. Considering CHP in the
Monte Carlo method Solar: 500 kW operation, increases profit in the power market.
Wind: 800 kW
Heat: 1200 kW
[119] Wind, solar power- and heat-only unit, wind Optimization algorithm: CHP1-2 Power: 60, Single-objective solver using normalized
turbines, PV, Diesel generating SFS, TLBO, DE, CSA, 105 MW compromised programming can present better results
units, Gas turbines, Microturbines, MOFEPSO, NSGA Wind: 6 MW compared to multi-objective approach. This approach
Fuel cell Solar: 3 MW also benefits from its simplicity and effectiveness.
Fuel cell: 6 MW
CHP1-2 Heat: 55, 45
MW
[120] Wind, solar EES, TSS, PV, wind turbines Stochastic MILP in CHP power: Auxiliary boiler only provide heat during peak hours
MATLAB 6092.90–12183 kW and there is no need for continuous operation. During
Auxiliary boilers reset of the hours the heat is provided by CHP units.
heat: 250–800 kW
[121] Wind, solar Wind turbines, PV, heat-only units SSA in MATLAB CHP power: 31–205 Obtained results from SSA approach in comparison
MW with other methods such as GWO, PSO, DE, and EP
CHP heat: 36–174 shows superiority.
MW
Wind: 150 MW
Solar: 90 MW
[123] Solar, Anaerobic digestion, solar Simulation in TRNSYS Power: 1000 kW This integration allows energy saving and improves
biomass collectors, auxiliary boiler, digestion Heat: 1000 kW the sustainability of wastewater treatment plant.
tank Payback period can be affected by natural gas and the
overall cost of the system. Solar collectors can impact
the economic performance of the system negatively,
however, it allows higher energy saving.
[124] Wind, solar, Wind turbines, PV, ICE engine, Simulation in MATLAB CHP power: 500 kW Life-cycle cost of the hybrid system is inversely
biomass gasifier Wind: 200 kW proportional with the environmental impacts
Forest wood Solar: 265 W reduction. Utilizing more heat would greatly reduce
CHP heat: 1000 kW the payback period of the system.
[129] Multistage Electrical heater, heat storage MILP model in IBM ILOG Depending on the Implementing AA-CAES can greatly reduce the system
air turbine CPLEX scenario operating costs and wind curtailment. Thermal
CHP Power: energy generation of AA-CAES can improve power
1200–3700 MW regulating ability of CHP unit. Off-design
Wind: 600 MW performance of AA-CAES should be considered
CHP Heat: 1700 MW thoroughly.
[130] Multistage Heat storage, absorption refrigerator MILP model in IBM ILOG Depending on the Implementing NSF-CAES allows wind storage during
air turbine CPLEX scenario off-peak periods which results in lower wind
CHP Power: 1 MW curtailment and imported electricity from the grid.
Wind: 1.5–4.25 MW Further the operating cost can also be lowered.
CHP Heat: 419.3 kW
h
33
Table 6
Summary of preliminary research works on integration of RES with CHP systems.
Research Research Objectives RES Components Materials and Power/Heat Key findings
Methods output
[131] Developing an economic Solar, wind, PV arrays, wind turbines, SLP algorithm in Power: 5–30 kW The optimization model reduced the
optimization algorithm for a hybrid and biomass biomass-fueled C++ Heat: 5–40 kW daily operating cost by 10%. PV
energy system to meet the required generators arrays provided the highest revenue
electrical and thermal load with for the system by selling electricity
minimum operating cost back to the grid.
[132] Analyzing the life cycle cost (LCC) Solar and PV arrays, windmills, Simulation in NA The LCC of on-site and off-site have
of Net Zero Energy Building wind Micro-CHP Be10 and BSim reversed trends. While the annual
considering both on-site and off- cost of off-site option increases with
site renewable energy systems. higher application energy efficiency,
but the cost of on-site decreases. Off-
site option provides higher output
and therefore consistency.
[133] Developing an innovative model of Solar A novel PV concentrator, Simulation in Depending on While DNI was directly proportional
solar concentrator for cogeneration EES, TES, Auxiliary boiler Zemax DNI with electrical efficiency, it was
application. Power: 10.4 kW reversed for thermal efficiency.
(max) Increasing EES and TES capacity
Heat: 22.8 kW would result in lowered purchased
(max) energy from the grid.
[134] Presenting a day-ahead energy Solar and Wind turbines, PV arrays, MOPSO and PSO Depending on Micro-CHP units can have significant
management stochastic program wind fuel cells, and micro- the scenario impact on MG reliability if TES and
for microgrids in order to decrease turbines Power: 110 kW EES units are developed for the
the operating cost and increase the (daily max) system as well. The demand side
reliability of the system. management in grid-connected mode
of MG, results in lower operating
cost.
[135] Developing a multi-objective Solar Solar collectors, PV Model in TRNSYS Power: 1 kW Optimization of storage capacity can
optimization solution for a solar- panels, TES, Stirling (hourly max) ensure lower operating cost, and
powered CHP system for rural area. engine Heat: 3.2 kW improved energy management
(hourly max) efficiency. Increasing EES capacity
would increase self-consumption rate
of solar generated energy.
[136] Analyzing 100% renewable energy Wind, tidal, Wind turbines, PV panels, Simulation in Power demand: Transition of energy generation
systems from economic and solar, and solar thermal, heat EnergyPLAN 18.9 TW h sector to 100% renewable energy
environmental point of view in the biomass pumps, biomass-fueled Heat demand: systems is possible, however, the
case of Denmark. CHP 70.48 TW h balance between biomass
Transport: 34.28 consumption and production of
TW h electricity or synthetic fuels should
be reached. With this developed
system by year 2050 the GHG
emissions can be reduced by 10.2%.
[137] Analyzing Ringkøbing District Solar and Electric boilers, TES, Simulation in Power: 8.2 MW For this specific plant, by increasing
Heating Plant in order to develop a wind natural-gas fired boiler, EnergyPRO (max) the operating hour of CHP unit, the
balancing service for the electricity solar collectors Heat demand: operating cost reduced since there
system. 13,306 MW was no need for the boilers to
operate; also, this resulted in lower
uncertainties by renewables and
therefore higher income.
[138] Developing an integrated Solar and PV arrays, boiler, Simulation in CHP Power: 7.8 Implementing EES units along with
renewable energy system for rural biogas anaerobic digestion (AD) HOMER kW h (daily) PV arrays and CHP units resulted in
areas and performing techno- with biogas, fuel cell, and Solar Power: 5 lower capital and electricity cost over
economic analysis on the system. micro-turbines, kW h (daily) the lifecycle of the project. Energy
supply with multiple sources is
preferable over single source.
[139] Proposing an optimization solution Solar and PV panels, wind turbines, Optimization in Depending on The operating cost of MG in isolated
for economic dispatch of a MG wind heat-only units, CHP GAMS the scenario mode, in which no power is imported
considering uncertainties of units, EES, and heat Renewable: 1.6 from the grid is 20.63% lower than
renewables and electricity price of buffer tanks MW grid-connected one. This mode
the grid. CHP Power: results in higher penetration of
1.1–2.2 MW renewables as well.
CHP Heat: 0.34
MW
[140] Performing a thermo-ecological Solar and PV arrays, biogas-fired Thermo-economic Power: 1 MW While thermo-economic analysis
assessment on a selected CCHP biogas ICE, and absorption and ecological Heat: 580 kW suggests the use of external resources
system integrated with renewables. chillers analysis Cooling: 70 kW as much as possible, the thermo-
ecological cost one considers the
origin of each external resource and
as a result the costing of products
depends on the cost of resources.
[141] Investigating the impact of Wind EES, TES, heat recovery MINLP in CPLEX CHP Power: 210 Coupling TES and heat recovery to
coupling TES and heat recovery MW batteries can supply a portion of heat
units to a large-scale EES unit in a Wind Power: demand to residence. The maximum
CHP system integrated with 50–180 MW heat supply of this integration is
(continued on next page)
34
Table 6 (continued )
Research Research Objectives RES Components Materials and Power/Heat Key findings
Methods output
renewables in order to recover Heat: 350–500 limited by the mass flow rate of the
heats from the batteries. MW heat conducting oil.
[142] Implementing demand-response Wind, solar, Heat pumps and hot Simulation in Power demand: Heating loads can impact demand
option as a flexibility approach to hydro, and water storage EnergyPLAN 92 TW h side resource capacity significantly
mitigate variability of renewable nuclear Heat demand: by proving long-term technical
generation in case of Finland 31 TW h potential.
[143] Formulating an optimal stochastic Solar and PEMFC-CHP, wind modified firefly Total capacities Optimal and coordinated scheduling
scheduling for a MG consisted of wind turbines, PV panels, algorithm CHP Power: 235 of renewable generation can improve
multiple renewable resources hydrogen storage unit kW the value of objective functions.
Solar: 528 kW Implementing PEMFC-CHP allows
Wind: 800 kW reduction of required natural gas for
Heat: 1170 kW heat demand. Hydrogen storage
leads to higher profit.
[144] Analyzing the operation of a Biomass, solar, Bio-oil and bio-gas fueled MILP CHP Power: 692 While TES can have significant
cogeneration energy system fed by and hydro CHP units, PV panels, implemented in kW impact on the system when
multiple RES in order to find smart biomass-fueled boilers, a GAMS solved with CHP Heat: 851 connected to the grid, the EES unit is
rules for optimum operation. hydroelectric plant, EES, CPLEX kW not economically feasible due to high
and TES Solar: 200 kW investment cost. The by-pass
Hydroelectric: operation of the heat recovery
17.43 MW system should be considered in order
to increase the profit.
[145] Developing a coordinated Solar and PEMFC-CHP, wind MRLBO in CHP Power: 235 MTLBO method is a reliable and
stochastic scheduling for an energy wind turbines, PV panels, MATLAB kW accurate algorithm for coordinated
system with multiple RES and hydrogen storage Solar: 528 kW scheduling of the system compared
hydrogen storage to improve the Wind: 800 kW to other approaches. CHP operation
total profit. Heat: 1170 kW in stochastic problem can improve
the system’s profit. Additional
benefits can be obtained by
implementing hydrogen storage such
as higher PEMFC efficiency.
[146] Performing thermo-economic Geothermal ORC, micro-turbine, Mathematical NA Working fluids thermodynamic
assessment on the operation of a and solar evacuated tube collectors model in EES parameters can influence the
micro-CHP considering different investment and operating costs
working fluids. significantly. For this specific system
R245fa was the best possible working
fluid.
the overall efficiency can vary between 75 and 95% when the heat Declaration of Competing Interest
generation is taken into account. Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are
natural sustainable sources that can be exploited for energy generation. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
Over the past years, due to global warming and environmental conse interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
quences emphasis has been given to design and implement renewable the work reported in this paper.
technologies in various capacities. Wind, solar, and geothermal are
renewable resources that were focused in this study. Renewable re Acknowledgement
sources integration into CHP systems was the topic that was discussed
thoroughly in this study. Authors wish to thank University of Nottingham Malaysia.
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