Optimization of on-site renewable energy generation for industrial sites

We consider the energy sourcing decision problem faced by industrial power consumers who must determine their long-term electricity procurement plan and need to evaluate various options to meet load requirements for their facilities including those which may involve on-site renewable generation. Other than sourcing from on-site renewable generation such as solar photovoltaic or wind, power can be purchased from spot markets or through a power purchase agreement, i.e. energy supply contract. We develop a mixed-integer linear model to make decisions that include investments in renewable generation, power purchases from spot markets, and amount sourced from supply contracts. Taking into account renewable energy certificates, the model´s objective is to maximize revenue from trading renewable certificates minus the expected total costs of investing and operating on-site renewable generation, and purchasing from electricity markets. Real load data from manufacturing plants are used to illustrate a numerical case study for our model.