Water. desalination + reuse

February/March 2013

Water. Desalination + reuse

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TECHNOLOGY enabled a first plant to be installed by 2013 (point B1) supplying peaking power. By that time, the plant already would have been competitive with new conventional peaking plants fired with fuel oil. Plants installed in subsequent years in the same power segment will be even less expensive. By approximately 2020, CSP will start to be competitive with medium-load power plants (B2). If this process is continued by filling up the medium-load segment with CSP and substituting more and more fuel in this sector, the breakeven with the average electricity cost will be achieved before 2030 (point B). By 2040, CSP will break even in the baseload segment (B3). Table 1. Levelized Costs of Electricity of CSP and other technologies (US$/MWh) CSP aNd dESaLiNaTiON Currently, CSP-thermal desalination is more expensive than CSP-RO except in the Gulf, where water salinity is high. The indicative water costs at present prices for CSP-thermal range from US$ 1.80 /m3–2.08/m3. By 2050, such typical annual costs are estimated to decline to as low as US$ 0.9/m3 of fresh water produced due to technological innovations. CSP adoption will also bring considerable environmental advantages. The increased share of CSP-RO desalination allied with the more efficient CSP-thermal desalination will reduce annual brine production by nearly half––from 240 to 140 km3. Increased RE use will significantly reduce CO2 emissions. Generating a gigawatt hour of electricity using oil produces 700 tons of CO2. Using gas produces 450 tons. In contrast, to generate the same amount of electricity, CSP produces only 17 tons of CO2. This vast difference will apply not only to Energy source LEC CSP a 196 Wind 102 PV 100 Gas CCGT 108 Simple cycle GT 116 Source: World Bank 2009. Note: LEC calculation is based on 25 years. For plant economic life and 10% discount rate. LEC = levelized electricity cost; CCGT = combined-cycle gas turbine; GT = gas turbine. a. Reduction in LEC for CSP by 45–60 percent is anticipated by 2030 due to a combination of economies of scale (21–33%), efficiency increases (10–15%), and technology improvements (18–22%). Table 2. Total annualized cost of RE-desalinated seawater (US$/m3) Mediterranean Sea Red Sea Gulf CSP-MED 1.97-2.98 1.87-1.96 1.77-1.89 CSP-SWRO 1.50-1.74 1.56-1.66 1.78-1.87 Source: Fichtner and DLR 2011 Note: The costs assume a hybrid plant with solar share of 46–54%, project life of 25 years, and discount rate of 6%. Energy costs were calculated based on the opportunity cost of fuel at the international price and the fuel escalation cost of 5% p.a. desalination but also to MENA's energy sector as a whole because introduction of large scale RE-desalination will not be done in isolation. From 2010 to 2050, total MENA electricity demand is expected to quintuple. Current CO2 emissions are 573 million tons /year. Using conventional fossil fuels, CO2 emissions would rise to 1,500 million tons by 2050. If RE replaces fossil fuels except for peaking power, MENA's annual CO2 emissions could be reduced to 265 million Valves for Optimizing and Protecting Desalination Systems A.R.I. has been operating worldwide in the field of desalination since 2000. The company has developed a wide range of valves adapted to operate in harsh conditions such as in corrosive environments, seawater environments and high salinity water drillings. The valves are used on brine and saline water transmission pipelines in industry and in desalination systems. For more information, please contact us at ari@ari.co.il www.ari.co.il February-March 2013 | Desalination & Water Reuse | 35 |

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