Feasibility study for water-electricity cogeneration using integrated system of concentrated solar power and biofuel as renewable energy sources

Although Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is one of the promising renewable energy technologies, several technical and economic challenges should be addressed. One of the major issues associated with Concentrated Solar Power technologies is the reliability limitation of the plant in the stand-alone configuration. Therefore, Concentrated Solar Power systems can be integrated with either thermal energy storage (TES) or a fossil-fuelled power assist FFPA). However, initial and maintenance costs and emission production are the main challenges for the developing countries. Integrating biofuel/biogas with CSP increases the renewability while solar irradiation is in absent. The paper main objective is to perform a feasibility study of integrating a biofuel based gas turbine power units in a Concentrated Solar Power plant for electricity and water cogeneration. The study includes the thermodynamics analysis and assessment of three biofuels, namely, Jatropha oil, castor oil, and palm oil. In addition, a cost lifecycle, sensitivity, and Monte Carlo analyses were performed. The results showed that Castor oil had a better performance in terms of efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions with a maximum daily freshwater production of 181,000 m³/day. The proposed integration resulted in a levelized cost of water that is lower than the water tariff in the UAE by $1.39/m³ with a payback period of 5 years.