Renewable energy driven desalination systems modelling

Renewable energy sources for powering desalination processes is a very promising option especially in remote and and regions where the use of conventional energy is costly or unavailable. Renewable energy driven desalination systems have been extensively discussed as an innovative approach to desalinate water economically and in an environmentally friendly manner. The stochastic nature of renewable energy sources (RES) which results in the use of expensive energy storage systems usually limits the penetration of RES to the power generation system of a region. Desalination systems can utilise in a more economically efficient way the available RES potential. The energy produced is consumed for potable water production which can be stored economically for a large period of time before consumption. An integrated model for the use of renewable energies (wind, solar) in the desalination of seawater has been developed in the context of REDDES project. In this work, a model is developed where desalination technologies are coupled with RES power systems to produce potable water at the lower possible cost. The presented model is incorporated in the REDDES software. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.