Bioenergy RES hybrids − assessment of status in Finland, Austria, Germany, and Denmark

Abstract

This paper surveys the status and future prospects of bioenergy renewable energy source (RES) hybrids, i.e. energy conversion processes that have at least two renewable energy inputs, one of which is bioenergy. Finland, Austria, Germany and Denmark were the case study countries. We found that the implementation of bioenergy RES hybrids was already ongoing in various sectors, but a majority of them was focused on domestic heating applications. Bioenergy can be used to provide flexible resources for both energy supply and energy storage. An important motivation behind hybrid systems is the possibility of switching between different energy sources in an optimal way. No significant technical limitations were identified for surveyed hybrid systems, but the future economic potential of bioenergy RES hybrids remains difficult to estimate as the value of flexibility cannot be assessed in isolation from the energy system. © 2019 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.