Exploiting small-scale cogeneration in energy-related markets

The issues related to a sustainable development of the energy sector are pushing towards actions aimed at improving the generation efficiency and towards a more rational use of energy. In order to pursue these objectives, from an economic point of view new energy-related markets have already arisen or potentially could arise in several countries, in which it is possible to trade energy-related commodities such as greenhouse gas emission allowances, energy efficiency (white) certificates, or renewable source (green) certificates. In this paper, an energyenvironmental economic model is presented, capable to analyse the profitability of potentially exploiting small-scale (below 1 MW e) cogeneration technologies within such a market framework. In particular, it is shown how the cost of electricity production could consistently drop upon trading of the relevant energy-related commodities, owing to the enhanced efficiency of cogeneration, thus increasing the potential diffusion of highefficiency distributed technologies for small-scale cogeneration applications. In addition, the need for a suitable regulatory framework is pointed out, aimed at correctly prompting, through the considered markets, the pursued energy efficiency goals. ©2007 IEEE.