Dual-technology power plant as a potential solution for the clean water and electricity productions: Eritrea case study

Abstract

According to WorldVision, Eritrea has the least access to clean water in Africa. Therefore, this work presents a unique dual-technology power plant (DTPP) model for electricity and distilled water production as a potential solution to the clean water problem in Eritrea. The novel design of the DTPP consists of a solar chimney power plant (SCPP), operating in the daytime, and a cooling tower (CT), operating at nighttime, showing excellent performance improvement over the conventional SCPP. Based on the results, the DTPP produced ∼509,715 kWh of electrical energy annually, which is almost double the amount of energy generated (238,273 kWh) by the traditional SCPP. Additionally, the DTPP produced 189,867 tons of distilled water annually, which is 37% more, when compared to the SCPP. Furthermore, the electrical power produced can also be used to produce additional clean water using other desalination techniques. It was concluded that the DTPP could be a viable solution for the clean water shortage in Eritrea. A valuable recommendation can be optimizing the DTPP design specifically for water production tailored to the needs of Eritrea.