Search

This paper discusses the technical and economic feasibility of a renewable energy-based system, aimed to replace the traditional diesel engines implemented on a pushed and pusher bulk carrier barge. This barge has a challenging navigational route in the Nile River from Alexandria to Aswan and vice versa. It is scheduled to complete 30 trips annually while carrying 850 tons/trip. The system is based on photovoltaic panels, and was selected with its excess energy to be stored primarily in the form of H 2 gas through electrolysis, and batteries (i.e. Power to Gas technology) to be later converted back to electrical energy through fuel cells. Hence, an operation algorithm was formulated to optimize the performance of the system by defining operating modes that use solar energy, hydrogen energy, batteries, or hybrid energy coming from multiple sources that result in an internal rate of return (IRR) of 15.1% and overall efficiency of 57.9%. This high efficiency is due to the nature of water current that flows from south to north of Egypt, therefore, causing a significant reduction in power demand in the trip from Aswan to Alexandria that requires 11,980 kW h, compared to the trip from Alexandria to Aswan that requires 21,064 kW h. • Zero emission solution combining solar energy, hydrogen generation and fuel cell propulsion for a barge in Nile River. • Preparation to achieve the 7th goal of sustainable development ensuring green propulsion in Nile River cargo transport. • Efficient use of natural resources, solar energy and water current from south to north of Egypt. • Integrating electrolizer, fuel cell, solar energy pv, batteries, and hydrogen storage to form an autonomous barge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of green energy technologies to supply berthed ships in ports with the necessary power instead of using their diesel generators is considered an initiative towards sustainability and climate change mitigation. Therefore, the current paper investigates the implementation of solar panels, offshore wind turbines, and hydrogen fuel cell systems as green technologies to supply the berthed ships with power in three Egyptian ports. The power requirements are determined by analyzing the annual ship traffic data and estimating the energy demand for each ship type. As a relevant result, the annual energy demand for ships berthed in Alexandria, Damietta, and Safaga ports is about 44.2 × 103 MWh, 22 × 103 MWh, and 5.6 × 103 MWh, respectively. The analysis results reveal a potential annual carbon dioxide reduction of 31.7 k-tons, 15.7 k-tons, and 4.2 k-tons in Alexandria, Damietta, and Safaga ports, respectively. From an economic perspective, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of solar panels is estimated to be 80.7–90.1 $/MWh, while hydrogen fuel cells have a cost of 166.8–172 $/MWh. On the other hand, LCOE in the case of wind turbines is estimated to be 140.8 $/MWh for Alexandria ports, 178.3 $/MWh for Damietta port, and 103.9 $/MWh for Safaga port. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]