Fuel cells as combined heat and power systems in commercial buildings: A case study in the food-retail sector

Salvador Acha, Niccolo Le Brun, Maria Damaskou, Tekena Craig Fubara, Vinay Mulgundmath, Christos N. Markides and Nilay Shah

Energy, 2020, vol. 206, issue C

Abstract: This work investigates the viability of fuel cells (FC) as combined heat and power (CHP) prime movers in commercial buildings with a specific focus on supermarkets. Up-to-date technical data from a FC manufacturing company was obtained and applied to evaluate their viability in an existing food-retail building. A detailed optimisation model for enhancing distributed energy system management described in previous work is expanded upon to optimise the techno-economic performance of FC-CHP systems. The optimisations employ comprehensive techno-economic datasets that reflect current market trends. Outputs highlight the key factors influencing the economics of FC-CHP projects. Furthermore, a comparative analysis against a competing internal combustion engine (ICE) CHP system is performed to understand the relative techno-economic characterisitcs of each system. Results indicate that FCs are becoming financially competitive although ICEs are still a more attractive option. For supermarkets, the payback period for installing a FC system is 4.7–5.9 years vs. 4.0–5.6 years for ICEs when policies are considered. If incentives are removed, FC-CHP systems have paybacks in the range 6–10 years vs. 5–8.5 years for ICE-based systems. A sensitivity analysis under different market and policy scenarios is performed, offering insights into the performance gap fuel cells face before becoming more competitive.

Keywords: Combined heat and power system; Commercial buildings; Distributed generation; Fuel cell; Internal combustion engine; Technology investment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:206:y:2020:i:c:s0360544220311531

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.118046

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