Techno‐enviro‐economic design of small‐scale membrane‐based seawater desalination systems integrated with hybrid autonomous renewable power systems

Abstract

AbstractThis article aims to search the technical, environmental, and economic model of an off‐grid hybrid power generation system that supplies electricity to a seawater reverse osmosis (RO) system. Net present cost (NPC) and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) values were used to determine the optimal system sizing powering a reverse osmosis desalination system for different sites where is located south and west coast of Türkiye. In the proposed power systems, PV panels, wind turbines, diesel generators, lead‐acid batteries, and converters were used. In the instance where the lowest LCOE of 0.301$/kWh is calculated, the optimal system comprises of a 25.7 kW PV array, one wind turbine (rated at 10 kW), 152 kWh LA batteries, and a 6.76 kW converter. The levelized cost of water (LCOW) value for this case was calculated as 1.168 $/m3. The LCOE value was calculated as 0.529 $/kWh for the power system, which is considered as a base case and consists of only a diesel generator, where no renewable energy source is used. For the base case, the carbon footprint of electricity generation is 35,127 kg/year. According to CO2 sequestration analysis result, the number of trees (Pinus Brutia) to be planted was calculated as approximately 164 tree/year over the lifetime of the power system for base case.