Power grid optimization at macroscopic level: a WEF Nexus perspective for Monterrey metropolitan area

Abstract

This project aims to develop an optimization approach to evaluate the associated systems’ power demand, including the residential, commercial, industrial, public, and agricultural users, based on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEF nexus) perspective. The context for this project is the landscape of the WEF nexus involving the production and distribution of their corresponding goods under which the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA) operates. This is an important case study due to the area’s contribution to the country’s development, it being Mexico’s main industrial hub. Previous efforts have only focused on the water sector concerning the other two and the food sector with the energy sector. The proposed approach seeks to identify the interrelationships among the three sectors to evaluate priorities in the management of natural resources and create a pathway to understand the dynamics of the interlinks within the conflicting resources with the energy sector as the focal point. With that said, the focus of this project is to propose an off-grid power optimization model emphasizing the integration of the water, energy, and food sectors to promote a diverse, reliable, sustainable, and sufficient grid. The proposed mathematical model accounts for economic and environmental objectives by including fixed and variable costs, optimal energy generation, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The most important contribution of the said model compared to other research efforts on the topic is the joint consideration of both fossil and renewable power generation technologies. All while implementing a granularity that covers: the different macroscopic tariffs and consumer segments in which both the energy and water are organized at a regional level for purposes of demand quantification and pricing calculation, the various possible cooling technologies that would be used in the appropriate power generation technologies to calculate water consumption, additional water consumption coefficients that describe the different food products that are produced in the region, additional wind and solar radiation averages per municipality, per month for the calculation of the eolic, photovoltaic and thermosolar technologies. Lastly, although possible, the off-grid power generation system has the consequence of more water and environmental accountability in the region. Nonetheless, it increases energy, water, and food security within the MMA. This would also mean a total disconnection to the CFE and the national power grid, in contrast to the hybrid system scenario, which includes almost all CFE-generated energy.