Energy, Economic and Environmental Analysis of a Hybrid Power Plant for Electrification, and Drinking and Irrigation Water Supply

• Published in: Environmental processes 2022-06, Vol.9 (2), Article 22
• Main Authors: Bertsiou, Maria Margarita, Baltas, Evangelos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Autonomy; Carbon dioxide; Coupling; Drinking; Drinking water; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Economic analysis; Economics; Electric power generation; Electrification; Energy; Energy storage; Environmental Management; Environmental Science and Engineering; Fuels; Hybrid systems; Irrigation; Irrigation water; Original Article; Parameter sensitivity; Payback periods; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaics; Power plants; Renewable energy sources; Renewable resources; Sensitivity analysis; Storage batteries; Turbines; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Water supply; Wind power; Wind turbines
• ISSN: 2198-7491; 2198-7505
• DOI: 10.1007/s40710-022-00575-x

The objective of this study consists of examining whether the coupling between wind turbines (WT) and photovoltaic modules (PV) with batteries (BT) or pumped hydro-storage (PHS) can produce a sufficient amount of energy in order to cover the electricity demands in an island, as well as the demand for producing desalinated water for drinking and irrigation purposes, in an effort to avoid the consumption of conventional fuels. A methodology for the simulation and assessment of such a Hybrid Renewable Energy System (HRES) is presented, combining various Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and covering both the energy and the water demands of the study area. A sensitivity analysis for the examination of how certain parameters affect energy, economic and environmental indices was also conducted. The results present the reliability of each storage system. The comparison shows a reduced use of the Local Production Station (LPS) from 25 to 16% and an increase of the months of autonomy in the case of use of BT technology. The Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) is estimated at 0.473 € for battery storage technology and 0.464 € for PHS, while the price drops to 0.349 € if an upper reservoir already exists in the island. Also, when coupling with battery, 27 more tons of CO 2 are eliminated compared to PHS. Coupling with PHS leads to lower LCOE and fewer eliminated CO 2 quantities, while coupling with BT leads to increased autonomy and the coverage rate of the storage system is less affected by variations in wind and solar potential. Article Highlights • Higher Levelized Cost of Energy and Payback Period for battery storage technology. • More eliminated CO 2 quantities when coupling with batteries. • Less use of costly and polluting conventional fuels when coupling with batteries.