Energy production based on difficult fuels is currently no constituting part of the energy system. Difficult fuels are characterized by, e.g., a high ash content or inauspicious ash melting behavior. Furthermore, the quality and availability of these fuels varies regionally and seasonally. At present, new, non-conventional power plant concepts are being discussed and developed in order to integrate into the energy system difficult fuels exclusively or in combination with other energy sources like geothermal energy. By combining base load power production techniques with flexible power production techniques, these power plants may have their share in compensating fluctuating power availability caused by the increasing share of wind- and solar energy. The overall efficiency of these plants may be increased by using waste heat for district heating or by generating process steam. The developed concepts should be a basis for marketable small and medium scaled combined heat- and power plants (20 – 50 MW_el).

The aim of this project is a systems analysis of potentials of different layouts of the described concept. Here, biogenic wastes and residues are preferred to be used as fuels. Nevertheless, other fuels like fossil- or secondary fuels can be used as well. Accompanying to technological developments, mass-, material- and energy balances, life cycle assessments (LCA), and life cycle costings (LCC) of plants and components are acquired. Based on these balances the integration of these plants into regional energy systems should be modeled and analyzed.