Exergoeconomics as a Cost-Accounting Method in Thermal Grids with the Presence of Renewable Energy Producers

Abstract

Thermal grids are efficient, reliable, and sustainable technologies for satisfying the thermal demands of buildings. The capability to operate at a low temperature allows not only for the integration of heat produced by renewable energy sources but also for the storage of surplus electricity from the grid via “power to heat” technologies. Besides, in the future, heat consumers are expected to behave increasingly as “prosumers”, supplying in some periods heat produced by renewable energy plants on site. In this scenario, it is important to propose a method for the cost allocation among producers connected to the grid. In this regard, this paper proposes Exergoeconomics as a possible tool for rational cost assignment. To show the capabilities of the method, some operating scenarios are compared for a cluster of five buildings of the tertiary sector interconnected by a thermal grid. Based on exergoeconomic indicators, such as the exergy and exergoeconomic unit costs, insights into the cost formation process of the heat consumed by users are provided. Sensitivity analyses of heat unit cost to design and operating variables are also performed. Results show that in the presence of distributed producers, the heat unit cost could be approximately 33% lower than in the case of centralized production, due to the lower amount of irreversibility generated. Capital investment accounts for 20–28% of the heat unit cost.

Exergy and Exergy-Economic Approach to Evaluate Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems in Buildings

“…For future work, the commonly accepted exergy approach with the reference environment should be established to ensure the implementation of the exergy analysis in the energy-related strategies and modelling of communities and countries, as has been realized in Switzerland by Codina et al [73]. Additionally, the exergo-economic analysis should be applied more as a costing method when evaluating the prices of the prosumers' energy products fed to the thermal or electrical grid, as proposed in [74].…”

Cost Accounting in Multiple-Source and Multiple-Sink Logistics Management From Network Flow Perspectives

“…From accounting perspectives, there is limited literature on applications of graph theory models as most applications are focused on either one aspect of businesses, such as logistics, supply chain, sustainability, and capital flows or the entire business (Ogata, K, 2010;Khakzad, Landucci, & Reniers, 2017;Choi, Y., Li, J., & Wu, D., 2018;Catrini, P., et al, 2022;Wu, H., et al, 2022). Logistics costs and investments can be vital to business successes, as logistics infrastructure, such as transportation tools, facilities, and equipment, are typically costly and require large capital commitment.…”

Impact of carbon cost sharing on transmission and distribution electricity prices

“…There are also scholars who amend the environmental cost to include the carbon emission of each process into the accounting of environmental cost, or compare and analyze the carbon cost management with the traditional cost management to account for the carbon cost expenditure of the enterprise [5]. In the study of key factors affecting carbon cost, it can be analyzed by establishing a mixed strategy Nash equilibrium model between the government and enterprises [6], it can be analyzed by integrating the cost structure of thermal power plants and carbon cost [7], and it can also be carried out from the perspective of monetization to account for and manage carbon cost [8], and all these researches provide theoretical support for the key factors of carbon cost. Specifically to the problem of carbon cost apportionment can draw on the apportionment method of transmission and distribution costs, the marginal cost method [9] is based on the marginal change of transmission and distribution costs as the basis for apportionment, and the marginal change of carbon costs is not obvious, so it is recommended to use the accounting cost method in the early stage of the study.…”