Storing Freshwater Versus Storing Electricity in Power Systems with High Freshwater Electric Demand

Abstract

We consider a power system whose electric demand pertaining to freshwater production is high (high freshwater electric demand), as in the Middle East, and investigate the tradeoff of storing freshwater in tanks versus storing electricity in batteries at the day-ahead operation stage. Both storing freshwater and storing electricity increase the actual electric demand at valley hours and decrease it at peak hours, which is generally beneficial in term of cost and reliability. But, to what extent? We analyze this question considering three power systems with different generation-mix configurations, i. e., a thermal-dominated mix, a renewable-dominated one, and a fully renewable one. These generation-mix configurations are inspired by how power systems may evolve in different countries in the Middle East. Renewable production uncertainty is compactly modeled using chance constraints. We draw conclusions on how both storage facilities (freshwater and electricity) complement each other to render an optimal operation of the power system.