Techno-economic analysis of a combined concentrated solar power and water desalination plant

Abstract

The aim of this study is to model and highlight the capabilities of the cogeneration of electricity and water using a contemporary configuration employing a multi-effect desalination plant and a reverse osmosis plant integrated with a concentrated solar power plant using parabolic trough collectors, working on the basic principle of the Rankine cycle. Environmental data was collected at the selected location, and a mathematical model was established using the MATLAB/Simulink package to predict the amount of fresh water and electricity produced by the proposed system under the required operational constraints. Preliminary results showed that Ras Gharib is an ideal location for the implementation of the proposed system owing to its high solar irradiance, yielding freshwater production in July of 21,000 m3/day and 1775 m3/day from multi-effect desalination and reverse osmosis plants, respectively. In addition to generating a total of 22,775 m3/day freshwater, a total of 15.5 MWe was generated and supplied to the grid after meeting all the electricity requirements of the system. Monthly assessments were conducted to determine the amount of fresh water and electricity supplied by the system.