The Performance and Feasibility of Solar-Powered Desalination for Brackish Groundwater in Egypt

Abstract

With a deficit of about 20 BCM in 2022, Egypt faces a severe water shortage due to rapid population growth (109.3 million in 2022). Egypt launched a program to utilize non-conventional water sources, like treated wastewater, agriculture drainage water, and desalination. Egypt is expanding its non-conventional water resources, boosting desalination capacity from 86,000 m3/day in 2015 to 680,000 m3/day in 2022, with plans to reach 1,250,000 m3/day by 2025. Despite the improvements in desalination technologies and cost, its high energy use and environmental impacts are still limiting its use. Egypt’s desalination relies on grid electricity, but renewable energy is crucial for remote areas where no electricity grid exists. Scaling up renewable energy in desalination faces challenges like land availability and high costs. GIS was used for optimal site selection for a brackish groundwater solar desalination plant in the Western North Nile Delta. Factors like solar radiation, groundwater quality, aquifer potentiality, geology, and seawater intrusion were carefully assessed. An evaluation of a sustainable 1000 m3/day solar-powered RO desalination pilot plant’s economic and technical viability is provided, along with its performance assessment. Limitations, challenges, and potential improvements are discussed. The study finds that RO–PV desalination for brackish groundwater is technically mature, with competitive Capex costs (USD 760-USD 850/m3) and low Opex (USD 0.55–USD 0.63/m3). Solar desalination for brackish groundwater with salinity less than 23,000 ppm can reduce energy consumption to 3.6–4.2 kWhr/m3. Water storage and hybrid systems with solar and conventional energy are suggested to enhance efficiency. This implies a growing market for small- to medium-scale RO solar-powered desalination in remote areas in the near future.