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Agriculture is one of the most energy intensive activities within the European Union. The common absence of electric infrastructure in these rural settings has led to the need for in situ generation in many cases. The existing excess pressures in large pressurised irrigation networks makes the generation of micro hydropower here a possible alternative renewable energy source. Pump-as-turbines have been proposed as a cost-effective technology for such purposes, taking advantage of the excess pressure in pipe networks to produce energy. This paper presents a methodology for the design of a plant for micro hydropower generation in an agricultural farm and outlines the predicted benefits of the installation. These predicted benefits were also compared with the measured performance of the plant for the 2019 irrigation season. The main aim of the plant was to replace a diesel generator that supplied energy to the farm. The excess pressure found in the pipe network varied between 0m and almost 60m. The nominal power of the pump-as-turbine was selected to supply the maximum energy requirements of the farm. The predicted operation time of the plant was estimated at up to 3199 h concentrated between April and September. An annual savings of approximately €2950 and 11 t eCO 2 were also estimated. The measured results showed an actual operation time of 2443 h between May and September, as in April the monitoring system was not operational. For this operation time, the savings were €2258 and 8.4 t eCO 2. Considering the April theoretical irrigation time obtained, the savings raised up to approximately €2434 and 9.1 teCO 2. The return on investment of the installation was computed to be recovered in less than ten years. • Real pilot PAT installation operating during an entire irrigation season. • Electricity was brought to remote places with no access to grid connection. • Diesel energy source was fully replaced by micro hydropower technology. • Solar and micro hydro hybrid solution was used for self-consumption. • More than 9 tCO 2 and €2400 were saved during the 2019 irrigation season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model for optimizing the life cycle economic and environmental impacts of a hybrid renewable energy and battery storage system – as energy supply technologies (EST) for off-grid farms. Micro-hydropower and photovoltaics represent the primary renewable energy (RE) sources, with batteries and a diesel generator considered as possible back-up systems. A modified Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) was developed and applied to a case study farm in Southern Spain and provided different EST solutions to optimize a design based on economic (life cycle costing or LCC) and environmental (life cycle assessment or LCA) constraints. The results highlighted that cases with a strong dependence on batteries could achieve minimum costs and lower impacts for climate change and energy resources (non-renewable fuels). In contrast, the optimal system for minimizing the consumption of material resources (metals/minerals) resulted in higher fuel use, which was up to 25% more expensive. The optimal EST solutions used up to 37% of the total energy generated; however, the results were sensitive to energy production-demand distributions. This methodology can help identify the most cost-effective solutions with the lower environmental impacts for decarbonizing the agricultural sector. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy sources (RES) can play a significant role in economic growth. This article examines the development of the wind energy market in the EU. The applicable regulations, directives, and legal acts are reviewed, and the State's role in the development of the renewable energy market is discussed. The analyses were carried out based on the available literature and Eurostat data. The authors of the paper used basic statistics to summarize the changes in wind energy and make a prognosis. The data analysis uses the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Method (ARIMA). The survey found that the highest average wind cumulative installed capacities were in Germany (31026 MW), Spain (18602 MW), United Kingdom (7894 MW) and France (6108 MW). Our analysis indicates that the biggest average annual installed wind capacity was in Germany (2952.6 MW), Spain (1224.5 MW) and the United Kingdom (1363.8 MW). These same countries achieved the highest average wind gross electricity production in the years 2004–17: Germany (50.9 TWh), Spain (39.3 TWh) and United Kingdom (18.9 TWh). The study finds that wind cumulative installed capacity will increase in most countries of the EU. • The European Union onshore wind energy market seems to be stable. • Wind power plays an important role as a source of energy supply. • The most important wind gross electricity producers in the EU are: Germany and Spain. • The highest increase of wind cumulative installed capacity in 2022 will be in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]