Optimizing Integrated Water and Electrical Networks through a Holistic Water–Energy Nexus Approach

Abstract

As water and electrical networks cannot be entirely independent, a more integrated approach, the water–energy nexus (WEN), is developed. A WEN is the basis of a smart city where water and electrical networks are interconnected and integrated by implementing efficient management strategies. Accordingly, this study develops a dynamic co-optimization model for designing and operating an integrated power and water system. The proposed co-optimization model minimizes the total annual and operational costs of a micro-WEN system while capturing its optimum design values and operating conditions and meeting the demands of the electrical and water networks. Furthermore, this work presents a plan for transitioning from thermal desalination to reverse osmosis (RO) desalination in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The key objective is to decouple electricity and water production, effectively tackling the issue of operating the UAE’s power plants at low efficiency during the winter while ensuring an adequate water supply to meet the growing demand. The results show that the co-optimization model provides a significant reduction in the total operational cost with the integration of photovoltaic energy and shifting to RO. Most importantly, the micro-WEN system is optimized over multiple timescales to reduce the computation effort and memory requirements.