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<strong>and</strong> the total system cost [70]. As a matter <strong>of</strong> fact, it could easily be understood that<br />

the cost <strong>of</strong> water produced from desalination systems using a conventional source <strong>of</strong><br />

energy, (gas, oil, electricity) is much lower than that obtained by RE sources. Table<br />

(1.2) presents a comparison between water cost for those technologies which use a<br />

conventional source <strong>of</strong> energy <strong>and</strong> those powered by renewable energy sources.<br />

The specific water cost from RE-desalination depending on the used technologies,<br />

plant capacity, salinity <strong>of</strong> feed water, <strong>and</strong> other site specific factors such as l<strong>and</strong> cost<br />

<strong>and</strong> time availability <strong>of</strong> renewable energy <strong>and</strong> its intensity.<br />

Table 1.2: Type <strong>of</strong> renewable energy supply system <strong>and</strong> specific<br />

water cost [74]<br />

For brackish water <strong>and</strong> conventional source <strong>of</strong> energy, the cost ranges between 0.21<br />

€/m 3 <strong>and</strong> 1.06 €/m 3 when very small units are used. Similarly, seawater desalination<br />

cost varies between 0.35 €/m 3 <strong>and</strong> 2.7 €/m 3 <strong>and</strong> only when the desalination unit is<br />

very small (2–3 m 3 daily production) the cost can increase to approximately 5.50<br />

€/m 3 [74].<br />

1.3.5 Barriers <strong>and</strong> limitations <strong>of</strong> RE-desalination<br />

Several technical, institutional, economic <strong>and</strong> social barriers, which hinder the<br />

widespread application <strong>of</strong> RE-D, are discussed extensively by ProDes project [75]. In<br />

summary, the high water production cost for RE-D, as a main barrier, is attributed<br />

(but not limited) to the following reasons [75]:<br />

<br />

<br />

There is no development <strong>of</strong> complete optimized RE-D as a single system but<br />

only as separate component parts.<br />

Current desalination technology has been designed requiring a constant<br />

energy supply, whilst most RE systems provide a variable energy supply due<br />

to their transient nature. This results in increased specific capital <strong>and</strong><br />

maintenance costs<br />

8

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