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. 2022 Apr 18;39(8):2028–2033. doi: 10.1007/s11814-022-1111-6

Optimization of the wood pellet supply during the continued increase of the renewable energy’s proportion in the energy portfolio

Namjin Jang 1, Ian Cho 2,#, Hyelynn Jeon 2,#, Jamin Koo 2,✉
PMCID: PMC9014971  PMID: 35464621

Abstract

The share of renewable energy (RE) in the energy portfolio has been increasing steadily during the past decades. While the trend contributes in lowering the emission of greenhouse gases, it presents new challenges in terms of costs and intermittency. This study evaluates enhanced utilization of biomass energy as a viable solution and presents the mathematical framework for evaluating the costs associated with supplying the required amount of wood pellets. The framework addresses the uncertainty in the future price of pellets, as well as variability in the shipping and storage cost with respect to the supplier and type of facility. A case study based on the latest RE plan of the Korean government shows how the costs and net CO2 emission can change when the biomass energy is used to provide energy during the intermittency caused by the RE technologies. The results of the study suggest that a substantial difference in costs can occur depending on the supply strategy and that the biomass energy has the potential to resolve the intermittency issue while realizing the South Korean RE plan.

Keywords: Bioenergy, Renewable Energy, Supply Chain, Uncertainty, Optimization

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the 2021 Hongik University Research Fund and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019 R1C1C1002642). This manuscript is submitted in commemoration of Prof. Jaewook Ko (Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Kwangwoon University), who we deeply thank for his devotion and commitment to the Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Abbreviations

BEP

biomass energy power plant

FFP

fossil fuel based power plant

COVID

coronavirus disease

LCA

life cycle analysis

PV

photovoltaics

RE

renewable energy

Nomenclature

Cship

unit cost of transportation with ship as the vehicle [USD/ton/kilometer]

Ctruck

unit cost of transportation with truck as the vehicle [USD/ton/kilometer]

CC

unit capital of biomass storage facility [USD/ton]

CItj

installed capacity of the power plant type j for time t [GW]

Di

shipping distance from the exporter to the importer [km]

d

discount rate [%]

DCt

transportation cost for time t [USD]

ECti

energy content of the wood pellet sold by vendor i for time t [MJ/ton]

FCt

fuel cost for time t [USD]

ICt

size of the wood pellet storage facility to be newly installed for time t [ton]

Mi

mass of wood pellet bought from the vendor i [ton]

OC

unit operating cost of the wood pellet storage facility [USD/ton/year]

PFti

unit price of wood pellet for time t purchased from the vendor i [USD/ton]

Rj

emission rate of the power plant type j [ton-CO2/MW-hr] Sti: mass of the wood pellet bought from vendor i to be stored in silo for time t [ton]

SCt

storage cost for time t [USD]

TC

total cost of supplying wood pellet for operating biomass power plant [USD]

κ

maximum multiple of the wood pellet purchase volume compared to the standard amount

τtj

capacity factor of the power plant type j for time t

Footnotes

These authors contributed equally to the work described in this paper.

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