Investigation of Water Consumption with Water and Energy Nexus Approach in Iranian Combined Cycle Power Plants

Electricity generation and water consumption are intertwined. With increasing population and increasing economic development, the need for energy increases and as a result, water consumption issues in energy systems will become much more complex. Most power generation technologies require water for cooling, steam turbines and power plants. The amount of water required for different types of power generation technologies is different. This study examines the amount of water consumed by Iran's combined cycle power plants and identifies the close relationship between the amount of electricity production and the amount of water used to generate electricity and helps to improve the conditions for environmental protection by managing water and energy consumption. In this study, library studies and similar studies in Iran and the world were conducted and the coefficients and methods for calculating the amount of water consumed were extracted. The amount of water consumption of each power plant was obtained by multiplying the amount of electricity generation and WCF related to the dry cooling system and the type of power plant using natural gas fuel. Finally, the data obtained from the calculations were compared with the actual data of the water consumption in the electricity generation process (demin water). Studies showed that the use of international water consumption coefficients estimates very different results compared to real data. Therefore, the use of water consumption coefficients for Iran can not be used.