The co-generation of electrical power from renewable energy sources, and water from desalination, is a very promising option, especially for arid and isolated from the grid regions. The design and implementation of a hybrid power system requires investment of significant resources in overall system engineering. The design process should enable system designers to answer a series of questions, such as:
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Is it possible to satisfy water and power requirements of a remote area using a hybrid energy system?
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Which are the alternative configurations of the system?
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How will each configuration perform under actual conditions?
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What are the investment, operation and environmental costs?
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How do uncertain conditions influence the system performance?.
The OPEN-GAIN Decision Support System (DSS) was designed to guide in framing the problem in an integrated way, in order to assist system designers in making decisions by answering all the above questions and to help selecting the optimal hybrid system configuration.
Aims and Scope
The main objective of the OPEN-GAIN project is the installation, operation and testing of a prototype Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination unit powered by Renewable Energy Sources (RES); the system unit will also be used for the production of electricity to meet other local loads. The power system of the plant combines different renewable energy components, backed up by conventional ones and further supported by energy storage systems. A general configuration, representative of this hybrid system, is presented in Figure 1.
The main parts of the system are:
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The Wind Energy Conversion system (WEC).
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The Photovoltaic system (PV).
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The Diesel Generator Set (DG).
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The Battery Storage system (BS).
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The Reverse Osmosis desalination plant (RO).
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Other power loads (LOAD), if the system is designed to supply additional energy needs at the installation area.
The design and implementation of a hybrid power system requires significant resources for system engineering. The overall process demands that system designers are able to answer several questions, such as: “is it possible to adequately meet water and power requirements of a remote area using a hybrid power system?”, “which are the alternative configurations of the system?”, “how does each configuration perform under realistic conditions?”, “what are the corresponding investment, operation and environmental costs?”, “how can uncertain conditions influence the performance of the system?”.
Support for answering these questions and making reasonable decisions can take many forms, and can be provided through various software tools. The OPEN-GAIN DSS was designed to guide in framing the engineering problem in an integrated way, to assist system designers in making decisions by addressing questions raised and to help in selecting the optimal hybrid system configuration, according to a set of predefined criteria.
In the above context, the OPEN-GAIN DSS aims at:
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The design of alternative configurations for a specific project of co-generating water-electricity plant powered by renewable energy for remote areas, in terms of feasibility, technical performance and economic viability.
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The assessment of economic, environmental and social performance for alternative configurations.
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The selection of the appropriate system and implementation plan, involving managers and experts in the process of evaluation.