Investing in Distributed Generation Technologies at Polish University Campuses during the Energy Transition Era

Abstract

The functioning of universities during the energy transition can be quite a challenge for them. On one hand, it is necessary to pursue a sensible policy of sustainable development based on the growth of their own renewable energy sources and electricity storage facilities. The aim of such measures is to increase self-consumption and ensure partial energy self-reliance while reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. On the other hand, the current geopolitical situation has indicated significant problems in the energy sectors of European Union countries. From the point of view of decision-makers at universities, the main concern should be ensuring the continuity of the operation of such a facility, including ensuring the energy security of the sites under management. Thus, it is necessary to merge these two areas and consider the development of an energy management strategy on university campuses oriented towards the development of distributed generation resources. For this purpose, one of the methods of multi-criteria decision aiding the ELECTRE I was used. As a result of the analyses, an energy management strategy was established for the main campus of the Warsaw University of Technology, which simultaneously ensures energy security and sustainability efforts.

The Novel Approach of Using Electric Vehicles as a Resource to Mitigate the Negative Effects of Power Rationing on Non-Residential Buildings

“…Since energy security analyses should be performed in the long term (taking into account the duration of the investment process or the electricity management strategy for a given subject), it is necessary to take into account correction factors indicating the trend of an increase or decrease in electricity demand. The research presented in this article is a follow up to the work carried out in [51], so it was assumed that for the target year of investment, yf, the power demand at a given hour, t, can be determined:…”

“…By analogy, based on Equation (1), it is possible to calculate the demand for electricity of the studied facility at hour t in year yf -E DEM t,y f . In the paper published by the authors of [51], the k DEM t coefficient was determined for each hour based on historical data from selected years for which the facility manager had energy consumption data for each hour of the day. In the present study, it was decided that the value of this coefficient should be one for all hours of the day and would be equal to the average value of the calculated k DEM t coefficients, i.e., k DEM t .…”

“…Thus, the facility's electricity demand, E DEM t,y f , based on Equation (1), also depends on the average value of the coefficient k DEM t . Based on the work of [51], a method for calculating the capacity at the studied facility, at each hour of year t, was also determined:…”

“…To validate the methodology described in Section 3, a case study was performed for the main campus of the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT). This article presents a continuation of the considerations started in [51]. The aforementioned article described the process of the detailed analysis of the power and energy demands of the WUT's main campus and proposed 5 concepts for the development of campus energization based on low-carbon power generation and energy storage technologies.…”

“…Public administration units, but also universities, may be particularly vulnerable to such actions [50]. If this kind of situation would happen to an entity such as a university, whose main activity is research and teaching, in the worst case, it could lead to a reduction in this activity in a drastic way or even a suspension of all essential activities [51]. If we consider that a suspension of teaching activity would only lead to a certain delay in the completion of the program, a delay in the field of scientific research could be the source of enormous financial losses due to fixed deadlines for carrying out research programs financed by the government or private entities.…”