Abstract

Enhancing energy efficiency in water distribution systems is crucial for developing sustainable water infrastructures. Applying renewable energy sources for this purpose is a key step toward cleaner energy production. For this reason, the energy/water unit discussed in this paper includes a hybrid system, combining solar photovoltaic and wind generation, with a water treatment process composed of three motor pumps and storage tanks for water pumping and desalination. Such multi-energy multi-pumps system can be operated more efficiently by optimizing the energy management systems according to environmental (solar and wind) conditions and fulfilling operation constraints. Therefore, this paper presents a comparative analysis between the results obtained using a Fuzzy Logic Energy Management System, an optimized Genetic Algorithm for the tuning of a Fuzzy Logic Energy Management System and a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming optimization approach that converges close to the global optimum in terms of energy management trajectories. It is worth noting that the Fuzzy Logic energy management system can be implemented at real time while the Mixed-Integer Linear Programming is based on the knowledge of the full (past and future) power production trajectories. This comparative analysis is a novel opportunity to assess the level of optimality achieved by fuzzy logic.