Techno-economic feasibility of photovoltaic, wind and hybrid electrification systems for stand-alone and grid-connected shipyard electrification in Italy

As the environmental impact from ship operations is being reduced, the fraction which the shipbuilding industry contributes to is expected to increase. It is therefore important to reduce the negative impacts resulting from energy consumption during shipbuilding, and to replace existing energy sources with renewable energy. In this study, the potential use of solar photovoltaic power, wind turbines and generators in stand-alone and grid-connected hybrid systems were assessed for a large Italian shipyard, using a microgrid design optimisation software. As a standalone system, a solar photovoltaic (PV) power system offered a Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of 0.053 ($/kWh), an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 11% and a discounted payback period of 6.2 years. As a hybrid system with grid connection, a configuration using solar PV, a wind turbine and a diesel generator offered an LCOE of 0.109 ($/kWh), an IRR of 28.9% and a discounted payback period of 3.53 years. The sensitivity analysis showed that cases with one configuration of generators were more sensitive to the diesel price than to the cost of renewable energy technologies.