Feasibility analysis and optimization of an energy-water-heat nexus supplied by an autonomous hybrid renewable power generation system: An empirical study on airport facilities.

This paper investigates the potential and feasibility of an integrating hybrid renewable power generation system with a large-scale reverse osmosis desalination plant to provide electricity, heat, and water for the New Capital International Airport, Egypt. The proposed energy system contains photovoltaic panels, wind turbine, combined heat-power microturbine generator, diesel generator, batteries, converter, thermal load controller, and a boiler. A comprehensive energy-economic-environmental optimization analysis was performed to optimize energy systems in which 16-feasible solutions were evaluated and compared. The results revealed that the optimal system has the least net present and energy costs by 1.54 M$ and 0.089 $/kWh, respectively, and needs only 1.12 years to recover the invested money. Moreover, the proposed system produces emissions of 59.5% less than the base-case. The optimal system has a negligible unmet load ratio since it has a negligible loss of power supply possibility of 0.0993%. The thermal load controller has a significant impact on reducing the net present cost, cost of energy, emissions, and needed batteries by 52%, 56.4%, 36.5%, and 90%, respectively compared to the base-case. The obtained results are expected to attract large investments in clean energy and water desalination because of the government's challenges in such fields. • Energy-economic-environmental optimization is performed for an airport in the new capital of Egypt. • Prominence is set to provide the airport with the daily need for electricity, heat, and water. • The effect of renewables, TLC, and batteries on the optimal system performance is discussed. • The cost of energy of the optimal system is reached to 0.08 $/kWh with a payback period of 1.2 years. • The proposed system generates 59.5% of CO 2 emission less than the traditional diesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]