Ecomomic Assessment of Chilled Water Thermal Storage and Conventional Air-Conditioning Systems

Abstract

In Kuwait, electricity is becoming an increasingly essential element of modern life. This flexible energy is used for heating, cooling, appliances, TVs, computers and transportation. The demand for electricity is growing at an average of 5.4% per year well above the world average of 2.7%. The growth of Kuwait energy demand is projected to rise sharply over coming years. The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) expects that the peak demand will grow to 17.2 GW by the year 2013. The chilled water thermal storage (CWTS) system is one of the available techniques that can be utilized to reduce peak electricity demand of buildings when national electricity consumption is at its highest level. In this paper, Life Cycle Cost (LCC) was estimated to investigate impact of implementing CWTS for cooling of buildings for both the MEW and the consumer. Results show that CWTS operating with a load leveling strategy gives the lowest LCC compared to 50% demand limiting and full storage strategies, and is, therefore, considered as the most cost effective option for both MEW and consumer.