title: Energy demand analysis via small scale hydroponic systems in suburban areas - An integrated energy-food nexus solution.
abstract: The study is a qualitative approach and looks into new ways for the effective energy management of a wind farm (WF) operation in a suburban or near-urban environment in order the generated electricity to be utilised for hydroponic farming purposes as well. Since soilless hydroponic indoor systems gain more and more attention one basic goal, among others, is to take advantage of this not typical electricity demand and by managing it, offering to the grid a less fluctuating electricity generation signal. In this paper, a hybrid business model is presented where the Distributed Energy Resources (DER) producer is participating in the electricity markets under competitive processes (spot market, real-time markets etc.) and at the same time acts as a retailer offering - based on the demand - to the hydroponic units for their mass deployment in an area, putting forward an integrated energy-food nexus approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Business Development and Technology, Aarhus University, Denmark. Electronic address: gxydis@btech.au.dk.
authors.forename: George A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Xydis
authors.affiliation: Soft Energy Applications & Environmental Protection Lab, Piraeus University of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box, 41046, Athens 12201, Greece.
authors.forename: Stelios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liaros
authors.affiliation: Eucalyptus IKE, Amfitheas Ave. 118, P. Faliro, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Botsis
keywords: Energy demand; IRR; Indoor hydroponic units; Wind resource assessment