Abstract
Water and energy are two pivotal areas for future sustainable development, with complex linkages existing between the two sectors. These linkages require special attention in the context of the energy transition. Against this background, this paper analyses the role of water availability in the development of solar thermal and photovoltaic power plants for the case of the Draa Valley in southern Morocco. Located in a semi-arid to arid mountainous area, the Drâa Valley faces high water stress - a situation expected to worsen due to climate change. At the same time, the region has one of the greatest potentials for solar energy in the world. To examine whether limited water availability could accelerate or delay the implementation of solar thermal and photovoltaic power plants, this paper compares regional water availability and demand in the Draa Valley for different scenarios, paying particular attention to potential socio-economic development pathways. The Water Evaluation and Planning System software is applied to allocate the water resources in the study region. The water supply is modelled under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 climate scenario, while the water demand for the Drâa Valley is modelled for a combination of three socio-economic and two energy scenarios. The climate scenario describes a significant decrease in water availability by 2050, while the socio-economic and energy scenarios show an increase in water demand. The results demonstrate that during a sequence of dry years the reservoirs water availability is reduced and shortages in water supply can result in high levels of unmet demand. If this situation occurs, oasis farming, water for drinking and energy production could compete directly with each other for water resources. The energy scenarios indicate that the use of dry cooling technologies in concentrated solar power and photovoltaic hybrid systems could be one option for reducing competition for the scarce water resources in the region. However, given that energy generation accounts for only a small share of the regional water demand, the results also suggest that socio-economic demand reduction, especially in the agricultural sector, for example by reducing the cultivated area, will most likely become necessary.
Highlights
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is a promising renewable energy technology with the potential to become mainstream, like wind, hydro and Photovoltaic (PV) technologies [1]
The water supply is modelled under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 climate scenario, while the water demand for the Drâa Valley is modelled for a combination of three socio-economic and two energy scenarios
As consulted by Gauché et al [3] or Brand et al [4], CSP technology combined with thermal storage has the ability to become dispatchable, enabling to store solar energy during the day and to deliver electricity during the night compared to other technologies
Summary
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is a promising renewable energy technology with the potential to become mainstream, like wind, hydro and Photovoltaic (PV) technologies [1]. CSP with thermal storage is especially suitable to provide energy during the country’s peak demand in the evenings and the annual peak, which has changed from winter peak to a summer peak due to air cooling demands according to the energy policy analysis conducted by IEA [13], the background paper of Morocco elaborated by Schinke et al [12] and by the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) [14] Despite these advantages the high water demand and the higher costs compared to PV lead to the question, if, to what extent and in which combination CSP can be implemented at specific sites in Morocco. The combination of PV and Solar Thermal Energy (STE) is the clear solution to provide base load in most days of the year [7]
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