IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i12p3525-d574466.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Water-Energy Nexus towards Developing Countries’ Water Sector Efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Helena M. Ramos

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources, CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Jorge G. Morillo

    (Department of Agronomy, University of Cordoba, 14071 Cordoba, Spain)

  • Juan A. Rodríguez Diaz

    (Department of Agronomy, University of Cordoba, 14071 Cordoba, Spain)

  • Armando Carravetta

    (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy)

  • Aonghus McNabola

    (Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

Water management and energy recovery can improve a system’s sustainability and efficiency in a cost-effective solution. This research assesses the renewable energy sources used in the water sector, as well as the related water sector performance indicators within Portuguese water management systems. A deep analysis of 432 water entities in Portugal, based on ERSAR data base, was conducted in order to identify factors to be improved regarding the system efficiency. On the other hand, the potential energy recovery developed in the REDAWN project was also used as a reference for the application of micro hydropower (MHP) solutions in the water sector. A water and energy nexus model was then developed to improve the systems efficiency and sustainability. A real case study in Africa, the Nampula water supply system, located in Mozambique, was selected as a promising potential for energy recovery. The application of a pump-as-turbine (PAT) allows the reduction in system costs and environmental impacts while increasing its efficiency. The proposed MHP has a capacity to generate ~23 MWh/year, providing significant savings. The developed economic analysis indicates the project is profitable, with an IRR ~40% depending on the energy selling price. This project can avoid the emission of more than 12 tCO 2 to the atmosphere, and it can help to reduce the system’s real losses by more than 10,000 m 3 /year. Consequently, it creates a total economic benefit of 7604 EUR/year.

Suggested Citation

  • Helena M. Ramos & Jorge G. Morillo & Juan A. Rodríguez Diaz & Armando Carravetta & Aonghus McNabola, 2021. "Sustainable Water-Energy Nexus towards Developing Countries’ Water Sector Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:12:p:3525-:d:574466
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/12/3525/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/12/3525/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Crespo Chacón, Miguel & Rodríguez Díaz, Juan Antonio & García Morillo, Jorge & McNabola, Aonghus, 2020. "Hydropower energy recovery in irrigation networks: Validation of a methodology for flow prediction and pump as turbine selection," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 1728-1738.
    2. Lydon, Tracey & Coughlan, Paul & McNabola, Aonghus, 2017. "Pressure management and energy recovery in water distribution networks: Development of design and selection methodologies using three pump-as-turbine case studies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(PB), pages 1038-1050.
    3. Nogueira Vilanova, Mateus Ricardo & Perrella Balestieri, José Antônio, 2014. "Energy and hydraulic efficiency in conventional water supply systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 701-714.
    4. Crespo Chacón, Miguel & Rodríguez Díaz, Juan Antonio & García Morillo, Jorge & McNabola, Aonghus, 2020. "Estimating regional potential for micro-hydropower energy recovery in irrigation networks on a large geographical scale," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 396-406.
    5. L. Araujo & H. Ramos & S. Coelho, 2006. "Pressure Control for Leakage Minimisation in Water Distribution Systems Management," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 20(1), pages 133-149, February.
    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. Fatemeh Bayat & Abbas Roozbahani & Seied Mehdy Hashemy Shahdany, 2022. "Performance Evaluation of Agricultural Surface Water Distribution Systems Based on Water-food-energy Nexus and Using AHP-Entropy-WASPAS Technique," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(12), pages 4697-4720, September.
    2. Stefanizzi, M. & Filannino, D. & Capurso, T. & Camporeale, S.M. & Torresi, M., 2023. "Optimal hydraulic energy harvesting strategy for PaT installation in Water Distribution Networks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 344(C).
    3. Agnieszka Ociepa-Kubicka & Iwona Deska & Ewa Ociepa, 2021. "Organizations towards the Evaluation of Environmental Management Tools ISO 14001 and EMAS," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-19, August.
    4. Elena Helerea & Marius D. Calin & Cristian Musuroi, 2023. "Water Energy Nexus and Energy Transition—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-31, February.
    5. Miguel Castro Oliveira & Muriel Iten & Henrique A. Matos, 2022. "Review on Water and Energy Integration in Process Industry: Water-Heat Nexus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-24, June.

    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. Kandi, Ali & Meirelles, Gustavo & Brentan, Bruno, 2022. "Employing demand prediction in pump as turbine plant design regarding energy recovery enhancement," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 223-236.
    2. Mehdi Dini & Asghar Asadi, 2020. "Optimal Operational Scheduling of Available Partially Closed Valves for Pressure Management in Water Distribution Networks," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 34(8), pages 2571-2583, June.
    3. Kucukali, Serhat & Al Bayatı, Omar & Maraş, H. Hakan, 2021. "Finding the most suitable existing irrigation dams for small hydropower development in Turkey: A GIS-Fuzzy logic tool," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 633-650.
    4. Shojaeefard, Mohammad Hassan & Saremian, Salman, 2024. "Analyzing the impact of blade geometrical parameters on energy recovery and efficiency of centrifugal pump as turbine installed in the pressure-reducing station," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    5. Stefanizzi, Michele & Capurso, Tommaso & Balacco, Gabriella & Binetti, Mario & Camporeale, Sergio Mario & Torresi, Marco, 2020. "Selection, control and techno-economic feasibility of Pumps as Turbines in Water Distribution Networks," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1292-1306.
    6. Rossi, Mosè & Spedaletti, Samuele & Lorenzetti, Matteo & Salvi, Danilo & Renzi, Massimiliano & Comodi, Gabriele & Caresana, Flavio & Pelagalli, Leonardo, 2021. "A methodology to estimate average flow rates in Water Supply Systems (WSSs) for energy recovery purposes through hydropower solutions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1101-1113.
    7. Andrés Ortega-Ballesteros & Francisco Iturriaga-Bustos & Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno & David Muñoz-Rodríguez, 2022. "Advanced Pressure Management for Sustainable Leakage Reduction and Service Optimization: A Case Study in Central Chile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    8. Thomas Pirard & Vasileios Kitsikoudis & Sebastien Erpicum & Michel Pirotton & Pierre Archambeau & Benjamin Dewals, 2022. "Discharge Redistribution as a Key Process for Heuristic Optimization of Energy Production with Pumps as Turbines in a Water Distribution Network," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(4), pages 1237-1250, March.
    9. Nogueira Vilanova, Mateus Ricardo & Perrella Balestieri, José Antônio, 2014. "Energy and hydraulic efficiency in conventional water supply systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 701-714.
    10. Sanghyun Kim, 2019. "Valve Maneuver Prediction in Simple and Complicated Pipeline Systems," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 33(14), pages 4671-4685, November.
    11. Aditya Gupta & K. D. Kulat, 2018. "A Selective Literature Review on Leak Management Techniques for Water Distribution System," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(10), pages 3247-3269, August.
    12. González-Bravo, Ramón & Fuentes-Cortés, Luis Fabián & Ponce-Ortega, José María, 2017. "Defining priorities in the design of power and water distribution networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 1026-1040.
    13. Rossi, Mosè & Nigro, Alessandra & Renzi, Massimiliano, 2019. "Experimental and numerical assessment of a methodology for performance prediction of Pumps-as-Turbines (PaTs) operating in off-design conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C), pages 555-566.
    14. Renzi, Massimiliano & Nigro, Alessandra & Rossi, Mosè, 2020. "A methodology to forecast the main non-dimensional performance parameters of pumps-as-turbines (PaTs) operating at Best Efficiency Point (BEP)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 16-25.
    15. Pecci, Filippo & Stoianov, Ivan & Ostfeld, Avi, 2021. "Relax-tighten-round algorithm for optimal placement and control of valves and chlorine boosters in water networks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 295(2), pages 690-698.
    16. Sinagra, Marco & Aricò, Costanza & Tucciarelli, Tullio & Morreale, Gabriele, 2020. "Experimental and numerical analysis of a backpressure Banki inline turbine for pressure regulation and energy production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 980-986.
    17. Shojaeefard, Mohammad Hassan & Saremian, Salman, 2023. "Studying the impact of impeller geometrical parameters on the high-efficiency working range of pump as turbine (PAT) installed in the water distribution network," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    18. Aditya Gupta & Neeraj Bokde & Kishore Kulat & Zaher Mundher Yaseen, 2020. "Nodal Matrix Analysis for Optimal Pressure-Reducing Valve Localization in a Water Distribution System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    19. Qiang Xu & Qiuwen Chen & Jinfeng Ma & Koen Blanckaert & Zhonghua Wan, 2014. "Water Saving and Energy Reduction through Pressure Management in Urban Water Distribution Networks," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(11), pages 3715-3726, September.
    20. Filippo Pecci & Edo Abraham & Ivan Stoianov, 2017. "Penalty and relaxation methods for the optimal placement and operation of control valves in water supply networks," Computational Optimization and Applications, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 201-223, May.

    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:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:12:p:3525-:d:574466. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.