Feasibility of biomass-based CHP systems for district heating and electricity production for small cities

This paper investigates the feasibility of a biomass-based CHP system for electricity production and district heating purposes of small cities. It is an actual case study for a small city in Greece, Deskati, situated at the border between Macedonia and Thessaly. The critical technological, energy and cost issues are analyzed, as well as the benefits of such a project for the whole area of Deskati. The CHP project is evaluated as an investment for a 25-years period and an interest rate of 4 %. Various scenarios with variations on the fuel mixture are examined and the optimal solution is finally proposed.