TITLE:
Techno-Economic Analysis of Wind and Geothermal Energy for Reverse Osmosis Desalination: A Case Study of Tripoli
AUTHORS:
Muetaz Mohammed, Sulaiman Boghandora, Ahmad Belkhair
KEYWORDS:
Renewable Energy, Reverse Osmosis System, Wind Power Plant, Geothermal Power Plant, LCOE
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering,
Vol.13 No.11,
November
27,
2025
ABSTRACT: Freshwater scarcity, exacerbated by population growth and climate change, is expected to affect most countries by 2050. Desalination has become an essential option in regions facing brackish or seawater shortages, yet its high energy demand underscores the importance of renewable energy integration. This study presents a techno-economic analysis of wind and geothermal energy for powering a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system in Tripoli, Libya. The RO system was selected as it is the most suitable for medium- and small-scale applications. Using the System Advisor Model (SAM) with the power purchase agreement (single owner) approach, the annual water demand of 100 households 27,375 m3 was translated into an annual electricity requirement of 68,440 kWh. At small scale, the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) was 41.16 ¢/kWh for wind and 950.51 ¢/kWh for a binary geothermal plant. When scaled to full capacity, the LCOE dropped substantially to 2.93 ¢/kWh and 6.09 ¢/kWh for wind and geothermal, respectively. The flash geothermal configuration was excluded due to inconsistent performance. The findings demonstrate that wind energy is more feasible for meeting small-scale RO desalination needs in Tripoli, while geothermal energy becomes increasingly competitive at larger capacities.