Technoeconomic and environmental performance assessment of solid oxide fuel cell-based cogeneration system configurations

In this study, an innovative energy solution to fulfil the electricity and heating needs of a mixed community, including residences, a commercial building, and a small brewery has been investigated. The primary objective is to comprehensively analyse the technoeconomic, and environmental aspects of a UK-based solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) energy hub designed for local-scale electricity and heating demands. This present study investigates two different configurations: (a) SOFC-based cogeneration and (b) SOFC-heat pump cogeneration configuration. These configurations are modelled to provide year-round electricity and heating for a local scale application and are evaluated using hydrogen and natural gas as fuels. A thorough environmental assessment is also conducted for SOFC and SOFC-heat pump system configurations fuelled by natural gas. The hydrogen fuelled SOFC-heat pump configuration outperforms other system configuration with energy efficiency of 96%. Meanwhile, the hydrogen-fuelled SOFC cogeneration system yields maximum exergy efficiency at 61.51%. The natural gas-powered SOFC-heat pump cogeneration system yields the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) at 0.1603 £/kWh, in comparison to the higher LCOE of 0.213 £/kWh for the alkaline hydrogen-fuelled system. The natural gas-fuelled SOFC system emits 0.3352 kg/kWh of CO₂, with even lower emissions of 0.275 kg/kWh for the SOFC-heat pump system configuration.