Giorgio Piazza

University of Genoa | UNIGE · Dipartimento di Ingegneria Navale, Elettrica, Elettronica e delle Telecomunicazioni (DITEN)

One of the main ways to reach the important targets of the European Commission in the energy field set by 2030 is to implement sustainable energy systems to cover electrical and thermal energy demands, as well as transportation needs, in urban areas. In the aforesaid scenario, multi-vector energy hubs consist of installing small and medium size pow...

Aiming at integrating different energy sectors and exploiting the synergies coming from the interaction of different energy carriers, sector coupling allows for a greater flexibility of the energy system, by increasing renewables' penetration and reducing carbon emissions. At the local level, sector coupling fits well in the concept of an integrate...

European countries aim to reach important targets in the energy field through the increase of energy efficiency in final uses, the exploitation of renewable energy sources, and the implementation of energy communities. In the aforesaid framework, renewable energy self-consumers represent a smart solution to foster the adoption of renewable energy p...

The success of the Energy Communities not only relies on technology development, where impressive improvements have been made in the last few years, but also in the economic feasibility. Otherwise, the sustainability of any project can be compromised. It is well known that, in the power systems and energy management field, techno-economic decisions...

In this chapter we present the fundamentals of the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOEn) focusing on renewable power plants and multi-vector energy systems. After having introduced the basic formulation for the LCOEn, we extend its definition to polygeneration systems, hybrid systems (generators working in parallel with energy storage devices as a singl...

In this chapter we present the results of the calculation of the LCOEn for three representative case studies. The first case study is the Smart Polygeneration Microgrid (SPM) at the Savona Campus of the University of Genoa (Italy), a low voltage microgrid which includes both thermal and electrical generators and loads. The second case study is the...

Energy Communities can help to satisfy our energy needs in a more sustainable and efficient manner. Since 2019, the European Union is strongly promoting their development; amoung the European countries, Spain and Italy are taking a leading role in this paradigm change. However, additional regulatory and technical steps must be carried out to move i...

The present paper proposes a new methodology to aid the electrification process of local public transport (LPT). In more detail, real drive cycles of traditional buses currently in use are evaluated together with other data to simulate the consumption of equivalent e-buses (electric buses) with similar characteristics. The results are then used in...

As reported in the “Clean energy for all Europeans package” set by the EU, a sustainable transition from fossil fuels towards cleaner energy is necessary to improve the quality of life of citizens and the livability in cities. The exploitation of renewable sources, the improvement of energy performance in buildings and the need for cutting-edge nat...

The integration of electric mobility with energy systems based on renewable sources represents one of the main pillars of sustainable cities and, in particular, of Local Energy Communities. This leads to reduce the environmental impact in urban areas and contributes to the implementation of the microgrid concept. Electric mobility services mainly i...

A microgrid can be considered a profitable solution to be adopted in smart cities if it is marketable, i.e. more, or at least equally convenient than other traditional energy supply sources. Different economic parameters can be defined to determine its affordability. In particular, the LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) is the most popular indica...

Buildings heating is one of the main source of primary energy consumption, therefore there is a high pressure for finding solution able to reduce the consumption with consequent positive impacts on the environment. In the last years, it has been detected all around Europe an aggressive development of renewable energy sources in the electricity sect...