CHAPTER NINE - Economics of seawater desalination using sustainable energy technologies

Abstract

Freshwater production costs generally depend on site-specific conditions such as local energy costs, level of freshwater quality required, and concentration of constituents in feed water. The latter is a particularly important factor in desalination system design and cost. A competitive cost for freshwater production using renewable energy–driven seawater desalination systems can be attained in the case of optimum designs and proper selection and utilization of renewable energy sources available in a region, so as to maximize the synergy between diverse resources. With efficiency improvements and other advances in renewable energy technologies, the costs associated with such systems have decreased notably in recent years. In this chapter, an overview of desalination economics is provided. Then an economic study of freshwater production is presented based on a technoeconomic analysis of desalination systems and renewable energy technologies. From the technoeconomic analysis, the cost of water produced from desalination facilities and the cost of energy from renewable energy technologies are predicted for systems, today and in the future. Next, exergy concepts are related to economic principles through exergoeconomic analysis, and suggestions for reducing the overall costs of freshwater and electricity are developed. Through exergoeconomic analyses of renewable energy–driven desalination systems, the proper allocation of economic resources can be determined to optimize the design and operation of such systems. Finally, an exergo-environmental analysis using life cycle assessment is presented to evaluate the environmental impact of desalination systems using renewable and nonrenewable energy.