Two combined cooling heating power (CCHP) plant layouts are proposed to supply the electricity, heat, and cooling energy demands of textile industries. In the first scenario, natural gas fueled internal combustion engines are integrated with a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and a hot water absorption chiller to produce electricity, saturated steam, and chilled water for air conditioning purposes. In the second concept, a linear Fresnel solar field is integrated with the same CCHP to provide fuel economy during the sunny hours. The proposed plants were compared with a base case scenario in which electricity is imported from the grid, saturated steam is provided by a natural gas steam generator (NGSG), and chilled water is provided by electric chillers. Simulations were performed considering mass and energy conservation equations, information provided by equipment manufacturers and typical meteorological year (TMY) data sets for three different locations. The economic performance of plants was evaluated by calculating the net present value (NPV), the internal rate of return (IRR), and the discounted payback period (DPP) of investments. As an important result, a great potential for reducing the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of hybrid concept was identified. However, the high investment of Fresnel collectors coupled with low natural gas prices showed the proposed hybrid concept as economically unfeasible. Nevertheless, it is expected that hybrid systems will have an important role once Fresnel technology costs are continuously declining and solar energy appears as a promising alternative for the sustainable transition to a low carbon future.
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