Prospects of Hybrid Energy in Saudi Arabia, Exploring Irrigation Application in Shaqra

Abstract

Dynamics in rainfall patterns due to climate change are posing a threat to crop production globally. The core issue of food security is expected to intensify, and improving crop yield using motorized power irrigation mechanisms can help in curtailing the impact of drought and changing weather patterns to meet the crop water requirement. To meet the energy demand of irrigation systems, this paper explores the use of hybrid energy sources, i.e., wind and solar energy, taking Shaqra Saudi Arabia as case study. This paper presents a systematic case study that evaluates crop water requirements for 3 different crops using the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s software CROPWAT 8.0 and converts the water requirement into energy demand to design the water pumping system. The energy requirement water pumping system is used to design a hybrid energy system using HOMER PRO 3.14.4 that can reliably meet the energy demand. The results suggests that, contrary to the common consideration in Saudi Arabia, a hybrid of wind and solar energy proves to be more cost effective and yields a higher amount of energy. The results suggest that a significant reduction in cost can be achieved with a hybrid energy system as compared to a solar PV system only.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095397
Divisions: College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Engineering and Technology > Mechanical, Biomedical & Design
Additional Information: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funding: This research was funded by the Deputyship for Research & Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia for funding this research work through the project number IFP2021-081.
Uncontrolled Keywords: CROPWAT,HOMER PRO,hybrid energy,irrigation,Geography, Planning and Development,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment,Environmental Science (miscellaneous),Energy Engineering and Power Technology,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Publication ISSN: 2071-1050
Last Modified: 25 Mar 2024 08:42
Date Deposited: 04 May 2022 11:08
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://www.mdp ... -1050/14/9/5397 (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2022-04-29
Accepted Date: 2022-04-28
Authors: Alghassab, Mohammad
Khan, Zafar A.
Altamimi, Abdullah
Imran, Muhammad (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-3057-1301)
Alruwaili, Fahad F.

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