Hybrid Olive Pomace-CSP Power Plant Analysis and Assessment for Electricity Generation in Palestine

Abstract

The long-term reliance on renewable energy systems is now profound and proven as a sustainable choice for societies’ development. Nonetheless, they are generally intermittent resources that need additional solutions to become reliable for stable power generation. Biomass is an abundant renewable and CO2 neutral resource in most agricultural societies. Olive pomace is one of the most abundant resources of biomass in Palestine that lacks proper exploitation. Also, Palestine features good sun radiation quantities since it is located in the solar belt region. Whilst Palestine is an occupied country that imports about 93% of its electricity needs from the occupation with high unfair prices, exploiting the renewable and available resources is a vital choice for reducing the expensive cost incurred for importing electricity, leading to improving the economy and Palestinian lives. This research aims to assess the potential of hybridizing olive pomace and sun thermal energy for electricity generation in Palestine, comparing the performance of two systems of solar line focusing technologies, and addressing the scientific and economic aspects to outline a strong science-based material for future research, as well to draw the main framework for deploying biomass-CSP hybridization for commercial purposes. In this research, the major design configuration and optimal combination between system components are outlined, to achieve the best balance between performance and economic considerations.

To attain these targets, previous work was explored, a potential location in Jericho governate was selected, statistical information was gathered related to olive pomace quantities and metrological data of Direct Solar Irradiance (DNI), a physical model has been modeled and optimized using EBSILON software considering steam Rankine cycle hybridized with either Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) or Parabolic Trough (PT) solar field with thermal efficiency of 36.76 %, and simulation was run around an annum to evaluate the amount of generated electricity, the share of solar energy, and estimating the Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE) for generated electricity. Comparing both CSP technologies; LFR and PT solar systems in terms of their share to the produced electricity and their effect on the LCOE.

The study shows that the viable power generation capacity obtained by burning the average annual produce amount of 35,569 tons of olive pomace equipped with 30 dunums CSP solar field is 6 MW. Solar field share in the 6 MW generation capacity was found to be 8.77% for PT and 9.85% for LFR on an annual scale. Results also show that for the same considered land area, the LFR and PT annual contribution is very close. Whilst LFR modules installed per unit area are higher than PTs, PT modules compensate for the difference using their superior optical efficiency. Regarding generated electricity, the 6 MW LFR hybrid model generated 51,691 MWh, and the PT hybrid model generated 51,629 considering the consumed electricity within the plant equipment. Using the 6 MW capacity hybrid power plant LFR and PT models. The LCOE calculation was conducted taking into consideration all the related financial aspects considered in this study. The LCOE when LFR is used was 0.1090 $/kWh and 0.1112 $/kWh when PT is used. LFRs are more adaptable with different land shapes than PTs do, for different land shapes other than suggested in this study outcomes would be different. Where imported electricity in 2019 was 6,249,104 MWh, the generated energy via the proposed 6 MW models can secure 0.83 % of electricity importation.