Enabling the energy transition of industrial districts through Positive Energy Districts

The dissemination of Positive Energy Districts, characterized by an annual positive energy balance and net-zero carbon emissions, has been promoted to improve the sustainability of cities. Their implementation is mainly aimed at cities’ urban centres, but it may be interesting to extend it to other energy intensive districts, such as cities’ industrial areas. In this regard, this paper aims at investigating the opportunity to decarbonize industrial districts by means of Positive Energy Districts, focusing on the industrial area of Benevento (South of Italy). The examined district includes different end-use types (residential, industrial and mixed) for a total of nine users. They have been equipped with a 250 kW wind turbine and multiple photovoltaic plants installed on the roof of the buildings, in parking areas and in an unused land, for a total peak power equal to 631 kW. An energy and environmental analysis have been performed on a quarter-hour basis, by using real electric load profiles in the case of three users and simulated ones in the case of residential users. As for the latter, their heating/cooling systems and domestic hot water production systems, which include evacuated tube collectors, have been dynamically simulated in TRNSYS 18 software. On the other hand, the generation curves of renewable-based plants have been simulated in HOMER Pro software, on a quarter-hour basis too. The proposed configuration allows to save 55% of primary energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions compared to the baseline case. In particular, the primary energy demand saving is equal to 1.1 GWh/y and the carbon dioxide emission reduction is equal to 162 tCO2/y.