IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v36y2008i5p1748-1756.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of solar energy cost on water production cost of seawater desalination plants in Egypt

Author

Listed:
  • Lamei, A.
  • van der Zaag, P.
  • von Münch, E.

Abstract

Many countries in North Africa and the Middle East are experiencing localized water shortages and are now using desalination technologies with either reverse osmosis (RO) or thermal desalination to overcome part of this shortage. Desalination is performed using electricity, mostly generated from fossil fuels with associated greenhouse gas emissions. Increased fuel prices and concern over climate change are causing a push to shift to alternative sources of energy, such as solar energy, since solar radiation is abundant in this region all year round. This paper presents unit production costs and energy costs for 21 RO desalination plants in the region. An equation is proposed to estimate the unit production costs of RO desalination plants as a function of plant capacity, price of energy and specific energy consumption. This equation is used to calculate unit production costs for desalinated water using photovoltaic (PV) solar energy based on current and future PV module prices. Multiple PV cells are connected together to form a module or a panel. Unit production costs of desalination plants using solar energy are compared with conventionally generated electricity considering different prices for electricity. The paper presents prices for both PV and solar thermal energy. The paper discusses at which electricity price solar energy can be considered economical to be used for RO desalination; this is independent of RO plant capacity. For countries with electricity prices of 0.09Â US$/kWh, solar-generated electricity (using PV) can be competitive starting from 2Â US$/Wp (Wp is the number of Watts output under standard conditions of sunlight). For Egypt (price of 0.06Â US$/kWh), solar-generated electricity starts to be competitive from 1Â US$/Wp. Solar energy is not cost competitive at the moment (at a current module price for PV systems including installation of 8Â US$/Wp), but advances in the technology will continue to drive the prices down, whilst penalties on usage of fossil fuel will increase electricity costs from conventional non-renewable sources. Solar thermal is cheaper (at a current price of 0.06Â US$/kWh) than PV; however, PV is more appropriate for Egypt (for the time being) as it is more applicable to the smaller RO plant sizes found in Egypt (up to 5Â MW; 10,000-15,000Â m3/d product water capacity). We would expect that there will be a shift towards more centralized RO plants (larger size) in Egypt, to tackle the increasing water shortage, and this would then favor the adoption of solar thermal energy in the near future.

Suggested Citation

  • Lamei, A. & van der Zaag, P. & von Münch, E., 2008. "Impact of solar energy cost on water production cost of seawater desalination plants in Egypt," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1748-1756, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:36:y:2008:i:5:p:1748-1756
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(07)00539-3
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Al Suleimani, Zaher & Nair, V. Rajendran, 2000. "Desalination by solar-powered reverse osmosis in a remote area of the Sultanate of Oman," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(1-4), pages 367-380, April.
    2. Sanden, Bjorn A. & Azar, Christian, 2005. "Near-term technology policies for long-term climate targets--economy wide versus technology specific approaches," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 1557-1576, August.
    3. Dakkak, M & Hirata, A & Muhida, R & Kawasaki, Z, 2003. "Operation strategy of residential centralized photovoltaic system in remote areas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 997-1012.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gude, Veera Gnaneswar & Nirmalakhandan, Nagamany & Deng, Shuguang, 2010. "Renewable and sustainable approaches for desalination," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 2641-2654, December.
    2. Atef A. El-Saiad & Hany F. Abd-Elhamid & Zeinab I. Salama & Martina Zeleňáková & Erik Weiss & Emad H. El-Gohary, 2021. "Improving the Hydraulic Effects Resulting from the Use of a Submerged Biofiter to Enhance Water Quality in Polluted Streams," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-15, November.
    3. Chen, Yih-Hang & Li, Yu-Wei & Chang, Hsuan, 2012. "Optimal design and control of solar driven air gap membrane distillation desalination systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 193-204.
    4. Angelica Liponi & Claretta Tempesti & Andrea Baccioli & Lorenzo Ferrari, 2020. "Small-Scale Desalination Plant Driven by Solar Energy for Isolated Communities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Kasaeian, Alibakhsh & Rajaee, Fatemeh & Yan, Wei-Mon, 2019. "Osmotic desalination by solar energy: A critical review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 1473-1490.
    6. Shalaby, S.M., 2017. "Reverse osmosis desalination powered by photovoltaic and solar Rankine cycle power systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 789-797.
    7. Omar, Amr & Nashed, Amir & Li, Qiyuan & Leslie, Greg & Taylor, Robert A., 2020. "Pathways for integrated concentrated solar power - Desalination: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    8. Okampo, Ewaoche John & Nwulu, Nnamdi, 2021. "Optimisation of renewable energy powered reverse osmosis desalination systems: A state-of-the-art review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    9. Mokri, Alaeddine & Aal Ali, Mona & Emziane, Mahieddine, 2013. "Solar energy in the United Arab Emirates: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 340-375.
    10. Khan, Meer A.M. & Rehman, S. & Al-Sulaiman, Fahad A., 2018. "A hybrid renewable energy system as a potential energy source for water desalination using reverse osmosis: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 456-477.
    11. Parida, Bhubaneswari & Iniyan, S. & Goic, Ranko, 2011. "A review of solar photovoltaic technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 1625-1636, April.
    12. Ihsan Ullah & Mohammad G. Rasul, 2018. "Recent Developments in Solar Thermal Desalination Technologies: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-31, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bosetti, Valentina & Carraro, Carlo & Duval, Romain & Tavoni, Massimo, 2011. "What should we expect from innovation? A model-based assessment of the environmental and mitigation cost implications of climate-related R&D," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1313-1320.
    2. Johannes Urpelainen, 2014. "Sinking costs to increase participation: technology deployment agreements enhance climate cooperation," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 16(3), pages 229-240, July.
    3. Eleftheriadis, Iordanis M. & Anagnostopoulou, Evgenia G., 2015. "Identifying barriers in the diffusion of renewable energy sources," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 153-164.
    4. Melliger, Marc, 2023. "Quantifying technology skewness in European multi-technology auctions and the effect of design elements and other driving factors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    5. Hellsmark, Hans & Jacobsson, Staffan, 2012. "Realising the potential of gasified biomass in the European Union—Policy challenges in moving from demonstration plants to a larger scale diffusion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 507-518.
    6. Vogt-Schilb, Adrien & Hallegatte, Stephane & de Gouvello Christophe, 2014. "Long-term mitigation strategies and marginal abatement cost curves : a case study on Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6808, The World Bank.
    7. Chaurey, A. & Kandpal, T.C., 2010. "A techno-economic comparison of rural electrification based on solar home systems and PV microgrids," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 3118-3129, June.
    8. Melaina, Marc W., 2007. "Turn of the century refueling: A review of innovations in early gasoline refueling methods and analogies for hydrogen," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4919-4934, October.
    9. Adrien Vogt-Schilb & St�phane Hallegatte & Christophe de Gouvello, 2015. "Marginal abatement cost curves and the quality of emission reductions: a case study on Brazil," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(6), pages 703-723, November.
    10. Vogt-Schilb, Adrien & Hallegatte, Stéphane, 2014. "Marginal abatement cost curves and the optimal timing of mitigation measures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 645-653.
    11. AL-Yahyai, Sultan & Charabi, Yassine & Gastli, Adel & Al-Alawi, Saleh, 2010. "Assessment of wind energy potential locations in Oman using data from existing weather stations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 1428-1436, June.
    12. Charlie Wilson & Arnulf Grubler, 2011. "Lessons from the history of technological change for clean energy scenarios and policies," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(3), pages 165-184, August.
    13. Pablo Del Río, 2010. "Climate Change Policies and New Technologies," Chapters, in: Emilio Cerdá Tena & Xavier Labandeira (ed.), Climate Change Policies, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Vroon, Tjebbe & Teunissen, Erik & Drent, Marlon & Negro, Simona O. & van Sark, Wilfried G.J.H.M., 2022. "Escaping the niche market: An innovation system analysis of the Dutch building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    15. Khatib, Tamer & Mohamed, Azah & Sopian, K., 2013. "A review of photovoltaic systems size optimization techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 454-465.
    16. Stefan Ćetković & Aron Buzogány & Miranda Schreurs, 2016. "Varieties of clean energy transitions in Europe: Political-economic foundations of onshore and offshore wind development," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-18, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Nolan, Tahlia, 2024. "Is pivoting offshore the right policy for achieving decarbonisation in the state of Victoria, Australia's electricity sector?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    18. Dierk Bauknecht & Allan Dahl Andersen & Karoline Dunne, 2020. "Challenges for electricity network governance in Energy transitions: Insights from Norway," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20200115, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    19. Jacobsson, Staffan & Bergek, Anna & Finon, Dominique & Lauber, Volkmar & Mitchell, Catherine & Toke, David & Verbruggen, Aviel, 2009. "EU renewable energy support policy: Faith or facts?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2143-2146, June.
    20. Lazarevic, David & Kautto, Petrus & Antikainen, Riina, 2020. "Finland's wood-frame multi-storey construction innovation system: Analysing motors of creative destruction," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:36:y:2008:i:5:p:1748-1756. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.