Possible Ways of Extending the Biogas Plants Lifespan after the Feed-In Tariff Expiration

Alberto Benato, Chiara D’Alpaos and Alarico Macor
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Alberto Benato: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
Chiara D’Alpaos: Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
Alarico Macor: Department of Engineering and Management, University of Padova, Stradella San Nicola 3, 36100 Vicenza, Italy

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 21, 1-23

Abstract: Energy production from biogas can play a pivotal role in many European countries, and specifically in Italy, for three main reasons: (i) fossil fuels are scarce, (ii) imports cover large shares of internal demand, and (iii) electricity and heat production from biogas is already a consolidated business. Nonetheless, in Italy, current legislation and incentive policies on electricity generation from biogas are causing a stagnation of the entire sector, which may lead to the shutting down of many in-operation plants in the years 2027–2028 and the consequent loss of 573 MW el over a total of 1400 MW el . This work aims to investigate the potential of revamping biogas power plants in prolonging operation until the end of the plants’ useful life, regardless of the implementation of a new government’s incentive schemes. Based on the time-series analysis of electricity prices in Italy and a case study representative of the vast set of in-operation power plants, our findings show that 700 plants will likely shut down between 2027 and 2028 unless the government adequately rewards electricity produced and fed into the grid via incentive schemes. In detail, our results show that the investment to revamp the plant exhibits a highly negative Net Present Value.

Keywords: biogas; revamping; repowering; organic Rankine cycle; profitability of investment; incentive design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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