Analysis of a dual purpose power plant with solar energy integration

Direct electric energy production from solar energy is a very attractive aim but many physical and technological difficulties still cause low efficiencies and high cost. For industrial scale production, a combined power plant is still the best solution. In the areas with a shortage of fresh water, power plants are often combined with thermal desalination units in order to produce drinking water from sea water (dualpurpose power plants). The primary energy source for these kinds of treatment units is supplied by a spill from the steam turbine. Starting from the consideration that the geographical areas which suffer a water shortage are often those where strong direct normal irradiation is present, the integration of solar energy in a dual-purpose power plant can be very interesting from both the technological and economic points of view. During the day, the collected solar energy can be used to produce steam for the desalination unit, thereby reducing the spill from the steam turbine and thus increasing the generated electric power. The dual purpose power plant with solar energy integration analysis during a sample year highlighted interesting results in terms of performance and solar to electric energy conversion factor.