OPTIMIZATION OF COMMUNITY INTEGRATED ENERGY SYSTEM FOR THE STATE OF QATAR TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The State of Qatar, characterized by extreme climatic conditions and high cooling demands, encounters urgent challenges in transitioning towards sustainable development. This is mainly due to the highest emissions per capita records and contribution to the climate change issue. This research proposes and optimizes a hybrid community-integrated energy system customized for the State of Qatar's urban and remote communities. The system integrates photovoltaic panels, gas turbines with waste heat recovery, electric and absorption chillers, and battery energy storage systems to reduce total costs and carbon emissions while meeting electricity and cooling demands. Using EnergyPlus simulations, high-resolution electricity and cooling demand data were generated for various building types. The data were compressed into seven representative days by the K-Medoids clustering technique. An optimization framework was developed in Pyomo (Python 3.11), considering technical and economic parameters across multiple configurations to minimize total annualized cost and greenhouse gas emissions. The results indicate that gas turbines remained essential due to the dispatchability and role in supplying heat for absorption cooling, contributing 62.7% to the total annual system cost. Photovoltaic systems provided 20.8% of the total electricity, highlighting the growing viability due to the State of Qatar's high solar irradiance. Battery storage accounted for 8.7% of the system cost but was vital in smoothing renewable variability. Integrating absorption chillers utilizing gas turbine waste heat improved system efficiency and decreased the electricity load on electric systems, proving beneficial in high-temperature environments. The parametric study revealed that increasing photovoltaic capacity led to more than 15% cost savings up to an optimal limit. The analysis showed that reducing the discount rate from 10% to 5% decreased the total annualized cost by 24%, demonstrating the impact of financial instruments on capital-intensive sustainable energy systems. The optimized community integrated energy system configuration improved cost-efficiency, emissions reduction, and system reliability. This system design aligns with Qatar National Vision 2030 goals, offering a sustainable energy transition model. It supports integrating clean technologies while addressing local energy needs. The findings provide a pathway for sustainable urban planning and energy system design, reinforcing the significance of integrated energy solutions in achieving national targets.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Science and Engineering