Ralf Olwig

Techno-economic analysis of combined concentrating solar power and desalination plant configurations in Israel and Jordan

Abstract Combined concentrating solar power (CSP) and desalination plants represent a realistic future option for the production of electricity and fresh water for countries of the world’s sunbelt. In this paper, parabolic trough power plants for electricity production have been analysed in combination with multi-effect distillation (MED) and ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants for two sites in Israel (Ashdod) and Jordan (Aqaba). Both RO and MED desalination plants were designed for a fresh water production capacity of 24,000 m3/d. The power block of the CSP plant was selected to meet the steam consumption of the MED plant at the design point, which led to a gross electrical power generation capacity of the power block of 42 MWel. Due to the low availability and generally high cost of coastal land, the CSP + RO plant consists of two separate units. It was assumed that the CSP plant is located at an inland location where there is land available. The RO plant is located at the sea, whil...