Techno-economic optimization of a solar-wind hybrid system to power a large-scale reverse osmosis desalination plant

Abstract

Solar-wind hybrid systems have grown to become a pivotal option for powering membrane desalination processes, especially because they have zero harmful emissions. In this work, solar photovoltaic (PV) and horizontal wind turbine (HWT) systems were used to drive a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination process to produce large-capacity fresh water. Moreover, an investigation into a hybrid PV-HWT system combined with RO was also conducted. The proposed systems are compared technically and economically with the solar organic Rankine cycle (SORC) for RO. Technical and analytical optimization methods were performed to minimize the unit product cost (USD/m3). The results revealed that photovoltaic-powered RO is recommended over wind energy operations. However, for large capacities, both thermal and wind farms dominate.