Integrating emerging and existing renewable energy technologies into a community-scale microgrid in an energy-water nexus for resilience improvement

Abstract Rapid urbanization around the world, especially in developing countries, has resulted in a dramatic increase in the need for energy and water resources. This global trend calls for a sustainable shift in energy supplies for urban areas that can deliver robust, economic, environmental, and social benefits. This paper presents a novel planning strategy, along with an integrated system design of microgrids (MGs), to help realize sustainable energy supply patterns in a decentralized manner for improving community resilience and environmental sustainability. The exploration started with the screening of emerging and existing renewable energy technologies that can be integrated and deployed in a community-scale MG. Seamless integration of energy and water technology hubs was examined to develop a sustainable system design of MG in an energy-water nexus within the community under study. Then, a multi-objective programming model was formulated for decision analysis by systematically considering the cost, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and water consumption of the MG. In comparison with existing utility grids, the multi-objective decision analysis helps find a suite of tradeoffs among three economic and environmental indicators, i.e., cost, GHG emissions, and water consumption. Case studies show that the proposed system design of the MG for the urban community can cut more than 75.5% GHG and 75.6% water consumption, compared to the benchmark in a centralized utility system. Case studies also show that this planning strategy can harmonize environmental, economic, and social benefits, making the traditional wide-area synchronous grid greener, cheaper, and more reliable. It is indicative that the system design of MG in an energy-water nexus will improve the reliability of energy supplies and strengthen community resilience, thereby increasing overall economic benefits in the long run.