Assessment of Techno-Financial Feasibility of Seawater Pumped Storage in Lebanon

Abstract

As renewable energy sources penetrate Lebanon's power sector, there is an increasing need for new energy storage systems to diversify and improve the national grid. Pump hydroelectric storage is an energy storage technology that has the potential to improve the stability of the power grid by deploying intermittent renewable energy sources and enabling load leveling strategies. Seawater pump storage (SPS) is a promising pump hydroelectric storage technology that uses the sea as a lower reservoir. As Lebanon, which suffers from constant stress on its freshwater resources, is located along the Mediterranean Sea, SPS is a viable energy storage option for improving the national grid.

This thesis assesses the technical and financial feasibility of using SPS in Lebanon. The Geographic Information System (GIS) software was used to locate potential sites for the artificial upper reservoir of an SPS plant along the Lebanese coastline. The GIS model output indicates the presence of two suitable sites, located in Ras Chekaa, North Lebanon Governorate. Each site's suitability was further studied in terms of environmental, social, land ownership, geotechnical, and water table vulnerability aspects, which were then used to narrow down the options to one feasible site. The feasible site possesses an elevation head of 173.71 m and a power capacity of 36.3 MW, which is 40% of the 93 MW average difference in electricity demand during peak hours in Lebanon. The proposed SPS plant built on this site will help in peak load leveling by operating daily, for the five peak hours between 5 pm and 10 pm.

The proposed SPS plant initial investment cost is estimated at $117.06 million, while the annual operation and maintenance costs are estimated at $2.27 million. To assess the financial feasibility of the plant, revenues were estimated under three different scenarios of electricity price sold from the plant (0.13, 0.16, and 0.21 $/kWh) and under three different discount factor values (3.5%, 7%, 12%) for the expected 40 years lifespan of the plant. The results indicate that the project will make economic sense if the price of electricity sold is at least 0.16 $/kWh while adopting a discount factor of 3.5% or lower, or if the price of electricity sold is at least 0.21 $/kWh while adopting a discount factor of 7% or lower.