Evaluation of cooling technologies of concentrated solar power plants and their combination with desalination in the mediterranean area

Different alternatives for the effective integration of desalination technologies in the cooling of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in the Mediterranean area are discussed and evaluated. Two cases are considered where a low temperature multi-effect distillation (LT-MED) plant is integrated into a CSP plant replacing the condenser of the power cycle. In one case, a LT-MED plant is fed by steam at the outlet of the turbine expanded to 70 °C. In the other case a LT-MED is fed by the steam obtained from a thermal vapour compressor (TVC) which uses the exhaust steam of the CSP plant (at 37 °C, 0.063 bar) together with some from the high pressure turbine extraction (17 bar). The two cases are compared with that of a reverse osmosis (RO) unit powered by the electricity produced by the CSP plant. In this case, two different wet cooling technologies, once-through and evaporative water cooling, and a dry air cooling are considered for the CSP plant. Thermodynamic simulations are presented for all cases, together with an economic analysis.

► The combination of desalination technologies into CSP plants is evaluated.
► Integration of LT-MED into a CSP plant is more efficient than a LT-MED-TVC.
► Connecting a RO unit to a CSP plant results more efficient than CSP + MED coupling.
► Evaporative cooling is the most efficient and economical for electricity production.
► Electricity costs for once-through and dry cooling are higher than CSP + MED coupling.