Assessing the electricity potential from agricultural residues in Western Macedonia, Greece

Western Macedonia (WM) remains the major lignite-based electricity-producing region in Greece, with zero bioenergy contribution to the national energy mix. Even though significant amounts of agricultural residues are available in the region, this work originally reports on the quantification of the theoretical and technically available residue potential derived from the major locally available crops. In addition, by employing System Advisor Model software, electricity output and levelized cost of energy from combustion of the total amount of a single biomass residue were estimated. Specifically, a total of 551,400 t/year of crop residues are theoretically available, of which 276,201 t/year could be technically considered for energy purposes. Depending on the crop type, 18.4–793.9 GWh_th/yr are theoretically available. Also, 3.2–70.5 GWh_el/yr could be generated in the region, with an LCOE varying between 134.2 and 188.0 €/MWh_el. Also, a sensitivity analysis for apple prunings and maize straw residues revealed the significant impact of both CAPEX/OPEX and consideration of feedstock pre-drying on the electricity cost. Lastly, profitability scenarios of a de-centralized 500-kW_el unit compared to a larger-scale power plant utilizing apple prunings in WM were assessed by considering potential CAPEX subsidies and reduced biomass logistic costs. In all, the present work could serve as a general guideline for preliminary technical and economic comparison between potential scenarios of electricity generation from several biomass residues.