Portfolio Optimisation of Integrated Renewable Energy Cogeneration Systems

The global energy sector is predominated by fossil fuels for the production of electricity and freshwater. This is more pronounced in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region experiencing fast economic growth driven by major oil and gas infrastructure. Conventional cogeneration systems typically encounter higher operational efficiencies and relatively lower costs compared to renewables-based systems. Their use of fossil fuels as a primary energy source generates high levels of CO2 emissions resulting in a substandard environmental performance per capita. Renewable energy sources can be integrated into the energy portfolio mix to improve overall resilience and diversification, whilst improving on overall sustainability as environmental emissions are restrained. In this study, an integration of solar and biomass renewable energy into existing energy infrastructure is proposed and analysed using Aspen Plus. The focus is to compare different water and power cogeneration configurations and identify the optimal configuration using MATLAB's optimisation toolbox. A techno-economic assessment is performed to review the effects of renewable energy integration on the overall performance of the grid. The optimal configuration indicate overall levelised costs and emissions approximated at $0.79 and 184.78 gCO(2)e per unit output, respectively, compared to $2.61 and 350.01 gCO(2)e per unit output for the base case. The results demonstrate improvements in the environmental and economic performance. The integration of renewable energy into a portfolio mix offer significant economic and environmental advantages and can be considered a promising and viable option for the provision of water and electricity in the GCC region.