Techno-economic and environmental assessment of electricity generation from agricultural residues in Argentina

This study evaluates the techno-economic and environmental performance of electricity generation from agricultural residues in Las Colonias Department, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, using the System Advisor Model (SAM). Wheat straw, corn stover, soybean residues, sunflower residues, and sorghum residues were quantified from regional crop production. A conservative 10% obtainability factor resulted in 79,490 dry short tons/y (72,112 metric dry t/y) of available biomass and a modeled plant capacity of approximately 11.86 MW. The fed-as-received configuration generated 85.31 GWh/y at an 82.10% capacity factor and 25.35% HHV thermal efficiency. Under a USD-denominated financial model with a 10% real discount rate, 4% inflation, and a first-year electricity selling price of 0.118 USD/kWh, the project yielded a real LCOE of 0.0855 USD/kWh, an NPV of USD 6.82 million, and an IRR of 19.75%. Active drying to 10% moisture slightly increased electricity generation but reduced NPV to USD 5.65 million and increased the lifecycle burden associated with fuel conditioning. Stochastic uncertainty analysis showed that 92.0% of the evaluated cases resulted in a positive NPV, while electricity selling price and inflation were the main drivers of project profitability. Environmental results, based on SAM's generic biomass life-cycle accounting rather than crop-specific upstream agricultural inventories, were interpreted as screening-level indicators rather than as a fully regionalized LCA or evidence of permanent carbon removal. Overall, agricultural-residue electricity generation appears technically feasible and economically attractive under the evaluated conditions, although feedstock quality, ash behavior, storage, soil nutrient replacement, and market conditions remain important project-specific uncertainties.