Modeling and optimization of an island water-energy nexus powered by a hybrid solar-wind renewable system

Abstract

Water and energy are one of the most primitive and prominent needs of each society. Supplying these requirements to island residents is especially more complicated and costly due to limited access to the urban utilities. On the other hand, investment cost of the renewable energy resources is progressively decreasing. In this context, this paper model, design, and optimize a joint water and energy supply system for a remote island without access to the utility networks. Freshwater will be produced by means of the desalination units. Various desalination processes including reverse-osmosis, multi-stage flash, and multi-effect distillation have been considered and compared to select optimum method in terms of technical and cost factors. The required electrical and thermal energy demanded by the consumers and also desalination process is supplied by a hybrid solar-wind renewable system. A battery energy storage system is used to balance time period of the renewable energy production with the peak load demand. In addition, diesel generator units are considered to enhance reliability level of the supply system. Results of the simulations demonstrate that the proposed approach will optimally determine capacity and characteristics of the system components and also desalination method. 2020 Elsevier Ltd