Technical and Economic Assessment of Local Power Supply Systems for Agro-Industrial Production in the Digital Economy

Abstract

Energy and energy supply development determines the rate of production intensification, including agricultural production. The current state of rural power supply is characterized by a high degree of deterioration of electrical equipment, long distance overhead power lines, low reliability of low-voltage electrical networks, and a higher accident rate. With an aim of ensuring food security and export orientation of the industry for the next 5 years, it is necessary to implement a set of measures to improve the efficiency of energy supply to agricultural production. This task will be hampered by a constant rise in prices and tariffs for energy resources. Thus, over the last 20 years, energy costs have increased from 3-5 % to 30-40 % in agricultural production. The specific capital investment (per 1 kW of power) and the cost of 1 kWh of electricity were reported to depend on a type of local energy source and its capacity. The paper proposes a method for marking out the economic boundaries of the effective use of local power supply arrangements to replace a standard central station. A power gen-set supplying energy to an agricultural holding is capable of operating in two modes subsequent upon utility (central station) electricity – autonomous and parallel. The authors compared the cost of electrical and thermal energy produced by the power gen-set and tariffs for these types of energy. Calculations have shown that it is advisable for an agricultural holding to have a local power supply system being a power gen-set based on gas engine-generators.