Design optimization of RES-based desalination systems cooperating with smart gridsDesign optimization of RES-based desalination systems cooperating with smart grids Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2021-03-302020enThis work was supported in part by the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014–2020” and in part by the European Regional Development Fund, and in part by the Greek General Secretariat of Research and Technology, Ministry of Education, Research, and Religious Affairs of Greece under the Project DES2iRES T3EPA-00017 of the ERAnet, ERANETMED_NEXUS-14-049.Water desalination combined with renewable energy sources (RES) constitutes an environmentally friendly technology for alleviating the scarcity of potable water. In this article, a new methodology is presented for calculating the optimal structures of desalination plants that are power-supplied by RES and cooperate with smart grids. The proposed technique takes into account the tradeoff between the three alternative degrees of freedom in the operation of the overall desalination plant, i.e., battery storage, water storage, and dynamic exchange of energy with the smart grid. The design results verify that the economically optimized configurations derived by applying the proposed design tool are capable to cover the water requirements of the consumers and support the operation of the electric grid by injecting the RES-generated energy surplus. Numerical results are also presented, demonstrating that the application of the proposed methodology enables to reduce the lifetime cost of the desalination plant by 60% compared with the exclusive use of electric grid energy. Also, by employing the total lifetime cost of the grid-connected RES-based desalination plant as objective function of the optimal design problem, the economical viability of the desalination system is improved.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/IEEE Systems Journal1444706-4717 Malisovas Athanasios Μαλισοβας Αθανασιος Koutroulis Eftychios Κουτρουλης Ευτυχιος Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Desalination Optimization ΑΠΕ Ανανεώσιμες Πηγές Ενέργειας RES Renewable Energy Sources Smart grid Water supply