Renewable Energy 173 (2021) 141e150

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Investigation of hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) for covering

energy and water needs on the Island of Karpathos in Aegean Sea
S. Skroufouta *, E. Baltas
Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, National.Technical University of Athens, 5 Iroon Polytechniou,
157 80, Athens, Greece

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The exploitation of RES and their combination with desalination may be the solution to water scarcity
Received 3 October 2020 and volatility of the electricity grids in remote offshore areas around the world. This research work in-
Received in revised form vestigates an HRES of a 12 MW wind park, a 1.8 MW photovoltaic park and a 1000 m3/d desalination
18 March 2021
plant in Karpathos, Greece. Concerning the wind and solar power, 30% and 20% respectively is integrated
Accepted 22 March 2021
Available online 29 March 2021
to the grid and the remaining is obtainable for desalination and water pumping, which is used as energy
storage. The surplus energy returns to the grid, reducing the deficit. The project’s lifespan is 40 years,
rendering the stochastic time series necessary and the paper culminates in the economic sustainability
Keywords:
HRES
investigation of this HRES. Several results can be obtained, as follows: i) the HRES0 reliability is high, since
Wind power the system is able to cover the entire drinking water needs of the island, 89.75% of irrigation and 50.63%
Hydroelectricity of energy needs. ii) The wind and solar potential of Karpathos has a decisive role, possessing the 3.02% of
Stochastic time series the total produced energy. iii) The IRR of various selling prices of desalinated water and energy ranges
Water management from 10% to 17%, rendering the investment viable and even profitable.
Karpathos Island © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The use of renewable energy sources (RES) is vital and their
need is increasing worldwide, due to the depletion of fossil fuels
and their environmental impact. This is evident from the institu-
tional framework governing RES in both the European Union (EU)
and independent countries, which makes them a priority in the
energy balance. The initiator of this change was the Green Paper
“Energy for the Future” in 1997 [1]. National Action Plan’s goal,
formulated by Directive 2009/28/EC [2], is the contribution of RES
up to 20%. The corresponding targets for 2020, for Greece, are to
increase the contribution of RES by 40% in terms of electricity and
20% in terms of final energy consumption. This is followed by
Directive 2018/2001/EU [3], which increases the contribution of
renewable sources to 32% by 2030. Wind energy plays a dominant
role in these percentages, due to the abundance of the source and
the low operating costs compared to other RES.
In several Greek islands, the energy needs are covered by the
underwater connection to the mainland network of the country,
Public Power Corporation (PPC), or by local autonomous production
stations. In the first case, the energy losses are increased and the
electricity is of poor quality, as the voltage is constantly changing
and frequent power outages are caused during periods of high-
energy demand. In the latter case, the electricity produced is
quite high-cost and the dependence on fossil fuels is apparent and
quite harmful to the environment. Therefore, the utilization of the
rich potential of RES is the way to achieve the energy independence
of the islands, the reduction of the energy costs and foremost the
abatement of the use of non-renewable energy resources.
Additionally, the Greek islands face a serious lack of energy and
water to meet their energy, water and irrigation needs, endan-
gering the inhabitants of the island (due to water shortages), but
also the agricultural, livestock and economic development of the
islands. This problem is more pronounced in the summer months,
due to increased water needs (mainly irrigation), as well as, due to
increased tourism. Until recently, the problem was the transport of
water to the islands’ main town by watercraft, or through networks
from nearby areas, and the collection of rainwater for domestic use.
Transporting water from other areas automatically means high-
cost water and is an option that cannot be permanent, because it

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sofiaskroufouta@chi.civil.ntua.gr (S. Skroufouta).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.03.113
0960-1481/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Skroufouta and E. Baltas
also increases the cost of living. In addition, the existing ground-
water of the islands shows quality and quantity problems, due to
private wells. For all these reasons, the research is directed towards
the use of desalination [4e8].
Thus, the Greek islands may be able to meet a considerably
satisfactory percentage of these needs, with the construction of
suitable projects for the exploitation of wind, solar and hydro-
electric energy, with the installation of wind and/or photovoltaic
parks, a desalination plant, or a hydroelectric project. These pro-
jects can be installed independently, but also integrated into an
existing network. These hybrid projects facilitate the greater use of
RES in networks with limited ability to absorb energy from
renewable sources, such as unconnected islands and seem to be the
much-sought solution to these critical matters [9e11].
In this research work, an HRES at the island of Karpathos is
investigated, so that the island becomes less reliant on the main-
land concerning its water (drinking and irrigation) and energy
needs. The system is comprised of 15 wind turbines of 12 MW total
power, a 1.8 MW photovoltaic park and a 1000 m3/day desalination
plant. The lifespan of this project is 40 years, making the use of
synthetic time series essential. This research work also examines
the project’s potential in meeting water and electricity needs of the
island, as well as, its economic viability and realistic feasibility.
2. HRESs and study area
The characteristic of HRESs for energy production is that they
use a combination of RES and existing production units (or non-
renewable energy sources), based on the Pumped Storage Hydro-
electricity method (PSH). This method is chosen, because it is
ecological and because it is easy to apply in areas, where the
topography and the availability of water allow it [12]. In addition,
the advantage of such a solution is that when the selected source
fails to provide power, then the backup is used, so the system is not
easily shut down. Certainly, such an option increases significantly
the investment and installation costs of the unit, but also increases
its reliability [13]. The PSH is the most suitable and economical way
of storing electricity for the Greek islands, in the form of a revers-
ible hydroelectric project. The benefits of such a project are
multifaceted. A typical example is Lake Plastira, in Karditsa, Greece,
where the construction of the dam created the lake, a new wetland,
which was turned into a tourist resort and developed ecotourism in
the area. Many studies have been published on the PSH [14e20]. In
Greece, on the island of Crete [21], there is a hybrid system, where
wind energy is consumed by pumps, while constant power is
provided by turbines at appointed times of the day. It is also found
on smaller islands, such as Karpathos [22], Mykonos [23] and Ikaria
[15]. Around the world, however, there are cases, such as the
Binallod region in Iran [24], the islands of Ireland [25], Lencois in
Brazil [26], Utsira in Norway [27], Samso in Denmark [28], a small
island in Hong Kong [29]. [][][].
There are also many studies on the production of energy
through RES, in combination with desalination [30e34]. Not all
desalination methods can be combined with all RES. Some com-
binations are not practically applicable, as many may not be viable
under certain conditions. There are factors to consider when
choosing the right combination of desalination technology and RES
[31], such as the salinity of the water, the location of the project, the
size of the installation, the availability of the existing electrical
network, etc. Desalination can be combined with solar energy, with
sustainable results of 65%e90% [35], as well as, with wind energy,
with profitable results compared to the high cost of electricity [36].
Of all the desalination methods, reverse osmosis is the most widely
used, due to high efficiencies, low installation and operation costs
and low CO2 emissions [37e39] and is also the most common
142
Renewable Energy 173 (2021) 141e150
application of RES in desalination plants [40].
Additionally, the optimization of the operation of the HRESs is a
field that concerns the research community intensively, since the
optimum sizing of the system is necessary, but also very complex.
The multi-criteria optimization is based on nonlinear and para-
metric models, as well as, on fuzzy logic and forecasting methods
[41e47]. Thus, the operational costs are reduced, along with selling
priced of water and energy, rendering the HRESs even more effi-
cient and green [48e50]. Furthermore, other energy resources/
systems are investigated and seem to have promising results, such
as hybrid geothermal systems, that have low operating costs and
are able to supply all types of energy demands and decrease the
effect of peak loads [51].
Concerning the study area, Karpathos is the second largest of the
Greek Dodecanese islands (after Rhodes) in the southeastern
Aegean Sea (Fig. 1). The geographical position of the island is of
great importance, as it is a key link of the island bridge connecting
Crete with Asia Minor. It has an area of 301.2 km2 (324.7 km2
including the surrounding islets) and 160 km of coastline. The main
city of Karpathos is called Pigadia or Karpathos (2180 inhabitants)
and is located in the southwestern tip of the Dodecanese Prefec-
ture, in the middle of the Carpathian Sea, between Rhodes and
Crete. The climate of the Karpathos is the Mediterranean, which
creates ideal conditions for tourism throughout the year, charac-
terized by north-east enhanced winds, which mainly blow in the
evenings in summer. The winters are mild and there are rarely
extreme weather events.
According to Karpathos Airport Weather Station data, the
average annual temperature is 19  C, while the average monthly
values range between 12.8  C (February) and 25.8  C (August). The
average minimum air temperature of 9.7  C is recorded in February,
while the average maximum is recorded in August and reaches
28.9  C. The average annual precipitation is 352.2 mm. The average
annual relative humidity is 70.9%.
3. Data processing and methodological framework
The project of this research work has a lifespan of 40 years. On
account of this, it is required to produce synthetic time series of 40
years, since the historical obtainable data are much shorter and not
of the same length. Furthermore, the dimensioning of the system of
this research work cannot be investigated based solely on the his-
torical data, as it is necessary to include the uncertainty of the
physical processes, whose data are the inputs to the simulation
model. These data are rainfall, temperature and wind speed time
series.
For the rainfall and the temperature, the synthetic time series is
produced using ARMA (1,1) “first-order Autoregressive e first-order
Moving Average”, which simulates appropriately independent
rainfall and temperature [52]. In more detail, this model is a
discrete-time process that interrelates the skewness of the white
noise with the skewness of the process (rainfall and temperature)
(Eq. (1)) [53]:
xt ¼ axt1 þ vt þ bvt1 (1)
where: vt is the discrete-time white noise with variance s2v and a
and b are parameters.
The production of synthetic wind series is based on the meth-
odology of Negra et al. [54], aiming to maintain the high seasonality
of the wind for each month separately. In order to do that, first, the
historic wind speed data are classified based on their speed. Af-
terwards, the wind speed state probability of each class is calcu-
lated, along with the corresponding transition rates. These lup and
ldown transition rates show the frequency, with which the wind
S. Skroufouta and E. Baltas Renewable Energy 173 (2021) 141e150

Fig. 1. The study area (Island of Karpathos).

moves from the previous class to the examined class and vice versa.
h  
Essentially, these rates help the model to simulate the high hourly TUU i ¼ ln U1i (2)
variation of the wind, for every month severally. Consequently, the lup
wind speed (ws) vector takes an initial value, while the time vari-
able takes the initial value of 0 h. For the first simulation year, the h  
TUDi ¼ ln U2i (3)
initial wind speed vector takes the value that corresponds to the ldown
average historic wind speed. Then, two random numbers U1 and U2
are produced in the interval (0,1), one for the transition up and one  
for the transition down. The most important step of this process is ws t i1 : t i ¼ wsi1 ±1 (4)
the calculation of the time to up (TTU) (Eq. (2)) and the time to
down (TTD) (Eq. (3)). Namely, in reference to Eq. (3), h represents
t i ¼ t i1 þ TTD or t i ¼ t i1 þ TTU (5)
the simulation period, which is 40 years. If TTU < TTD, the wind
speed goes to the upper state after TTU hours, otherwise the wind The synthetic wind time series is produced using MATLAB and
speed goes to the lower state after TTD hours. At the same time, the code is developed in such a way, that the annual synthetic
vector ws and variable t are updated (Eq. (4) and Eq. (5)) in every strings are produced simultaneously for all the years of the project’s
time step as well. The procedure is repeated, until t is equal or lifespan. Therefore, the procedure discussed above takes place only
exceeds h. Every year, the initial wind speed vector equals the latest once for each simulation.
value of the previous synthetic wind speed time series. In Fig. 2, is presented the comparison of the synthetic time series
143
S. Skroufouta and E. Baltas
Fig. 2. Comparison of historical and synthetic time series.
with the historical. This is requisite in order to test the reliability of
the model, which is developed to produce the synthetic wind time
series. This comparison takes place only in the wind, since it is the
most sensitive input of the model and it is of high importance to
maintain its hourly variation and monthly seasonality.
For the development of the simulation model, it is necessary to
assess the energy and water needs of the island. These estimates,
however, should not only include the existing conditions on the
island. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the population and its
corresponding needs to the expected population per year, so that
the input data of the model become more realistic.
The assessment of electricity needs presumes on the con-
sumption of the five-year available data (2014e2018). Data is the
total monthly energy demand for each month, which is converted
into daily. In addition, the daily variation in energy demand for a
typical 24-h period each month is known, according to which the
previous time series of daily demand is converted into hourly.
Finally, the energy needs are estimated for the entire lifetime of the
project, based on the rate of the annual population growth. In
particular, the hourly energy consumption time series of the first
year is calculated proportionally to the typical daily energy demand
of each month, concerning the island of Karpathos. The monthly
variation of electricity needs (of the first and fortieth year) appears
in Fig. 3.
Concerning the drinking water needs, the typical consumptions
Fig. 3. Monthly variation of electricity need of the first and fortieth year (MWh/d/
month).
144
Renewable Energy 173 (2021) 141e150
are 150 l/d/capita for the permanent population, 200 l/d/capita for
the summer residents and 150 l/d/capita for the tourists. The
monthly variation of the daily population for one year is calculated.
It is obvious that in the summer months, due to the intense tourist
influx, the water needs of the island are quite high, compared to the
winter months. Initially, the water needs for this year are estimated
and then the reduction in the expected population per year takes
place. This increase in population is estimated for 40 years, with a
constant geometric increase per year, using Eq. (6):
Pi ¼ a*Pi1 (6)
where, a ¼ 1 þ g (Eq. (7)), g ¼ ðPi Pi1 Þ=ðPi1 Þ (Eq. 8) and Pi-1: is
the population of the previous year. The monthly variation of the
daily consumption, regarding the drinking water need, year appear
in Fig. 4 for every five years.
In addition, the estimate of the irrigation needs of the island
results from the sum of the livestock needs and the needs of the
crops in water. The crops’ irrigation needs for the island of Karpa-
thos (Fig. 5) are estimated using the method of Blaney-Criddle
[55,56].
Τhis research work consists of a tank at sea level of 3000 m3
capacity, a 1.8 MW photovoltaic park (P/V Park), fifteen E53-
800 kW wind turbines (W/T), a 1000 m3/d desalination plant, a
1500 kW pumping station, as well as, a hydroelectricity supply of
5 m3/s (accompanied by a small dam of 25,000 m3 capacity). The
wind turbines are at 80 m altitude, the photovoltaics at 30 m, the
hydroelectric power plant (HPP) has two tanks with an altitude
difference of 150 m high, and the desalination energy is 4 kWh/m
[3].
For this project, the main objective is to meet the drinking water
needs, then the irrigation and finally the energy needs of the island.
Only 30% of the wind turbine energy and 20% of the photovoltaic
energy goes directly into the grid. The remainder is driven to the
desalination plant, to ensure maximum water production. If there is
an excess of energy is consumed for pumping water to the hydro-
electric reservoir, which is used as an energy “battery”. The capacity
of the desalination plant is up to 1000 m3/day and the desalination
energy demand amounts to 4 kWh/m [3]. The volume of water
produced is directed into the grid, to meet drinking water and
irrigation needs, or in a storage tank if there is excess water. HRES,
as well as, the connections between its individual units, appear in
Fig. 6(b).
The location of the W/T is selected based on positioning criteria
for wind farms, as it is presented in Fig. 6(a) [57e59]. Namely, the
wind park is at a distance of more than 2 km from the main roads of
the island and the tourist and residential areas. Additionally, the
selected location is in a small topographic slope area, which enables
Fig. 4. Monthly Fluctuation of the Daily Drinking Water Consumption for every five
years (m [3]/d/month).
S. Skroufouta and E. Baltas Renewable Energy 173 (2021) 141e150

Fig. 5. Monthly fluctuation of daily irrigation demand (m [3]/d/month).

to meet the criteria concerning the requisite density and distance of

the W/T. Finally yet importantly, this location is on the south part of
the island, so that the Natura protected area at north Karpathos
remains unimpaired.
Then, the altitude correction of the produced synthetic wind
time series follows, based on the estimated hub altitude (80 m) and
the altitude of the meteorological station (17 m) (Eq. 9). In order to
convert the time series of wind speed into energy, it is necessary to
choose the optimal type of wind turbine for the specific wind po-
tential. This is achieved by comparing three different types of wind
turbines. This exploration is based on the historical wind time se-
ries, which is categorized into classes according to wind speed.
Then, for each class, the number of collected hours is calculated and
converted to an average number of hours per year. While dividing
this number by the total number of observations, the frequency of
each class is obtained. Knowing the frequency of the classes, the
generated energy of the historical time series is calculated, using
the power curve for each of the three different wind turbines. As it
appears in Fig. 7, the E53-800 kW W/T seems to be slightly better.
Following the selection of the type of wind turbines, the synthetic
Fig. 7. Estimated energy production (MWh).
time series of the wind is converted into energy time series. The
produced time series of the wind has a 3-h time step. For this
reason, using the power curve, the synthetic time series of the wind
energy is estimated with a 3-h step and then it is converted to an
hourly time step.
u2 = u1 ¼ lnðZ2 = Zo Þ = lnðZ1 = Zo Þ (7)
where u1 and u2 the wind speed at Z1 ¼ 17 m and Z2 ¼ 180 m and
Zo ¼ 0.10 m (soil roughness parameter).
To calculate the solar energy produced each day, the average
solar radiation on the ground is divided by the number of days of
the corresponding month and multiplied by the photovoltaic park
area and the installed power per square meter. The hydroelectric
energy of the project cannot be calculated individually, as wind and
solar energy. This is because the generated hydroelectricity is

Fig. 6. (a) Position of the units of HRES, (b) Schematic representation of the HRES.

145
S. Skroufouta and E. Baltas Renewable Energy 173 (2021) 141e150

calculated at each hourly step, using the simulation model analyzed

below.
The required data for the hourly simulation of the operation of
the hybrid system, as shown on Fig. 8, are the following:

 the synthetic time series of energy, drinking and irrigation water

needs of 40 years,
 the synthetic time series of wind and solar radiation hourly for
40 years,
 the efficiency curve of wind turbines, their quantity and their
altitude,
 the surface area of the photovoltaic park,
 the rated power of photovoltaics, Fig. 9. Annual energy production (MWh/y).
 the capacity and the energy consumption of the desalination
plant,
 the capacity of each tank,
 the installed power of the pumping station,
 the altitude of the escape route and the drainage of the pipeline.

Based on the inputs of the model, the estimated outputs are:

 the wind, solar and hydroelectric energy electricity per hour,

 the electricity provided to the grid per hour,
 the electricity shortage to meet energy needs per hour,
 the amount of drinking and irrigation water produced per hour,
 the reliability of drinking water and irrigation of the hybrid
system per year,
 the percentage of hybrid system coverage of the island’s energy
needs per year and month,
 the Water-Energy-Food interactions per year and
 the total revenue and expenses of the water and electricity
system per year. Fig. 10. Average monthly energy production (MWh/month).

4. Cost-benefit analysis and discussion of results
The total annual production is consistently greater than
10,000 MWh and the maximum annual production is
150,000 MWh (Fig. 9). The driving force of this HRES is the wind
energy and inductively the annual energy production varies, on
account of the high fluctuation of the wind speed of the study area.
Fig. 10 presents the energy production, based on the final form
of the energy source that is used to cover the energy needs;
meaning even though the water is led to the hydroelectric dam by
using wind power, only the produced hydroelectric power is
actually led to the grid. Therefore, the fact that the production of
wind power is larger from December to June is actually shown
more clearly in the produced hydroelectric energy.
The monthly drinking water demand (thus the production)
correlates directly with the touristic population (Fig. 11). The vol-
ume of water for irrigation needs from October to April is equal to
zero, because the evaporation of the corresponding months is
considered equal to zero (Fig. 12) (see Fig. 13) (see Fig. 14).
The reliability of the HRES seems to be adequate, since the
drinking water needs are met in 99% and the island’s reliance
wanes significantly pertaining to the irrigation water and energy
(Table 1 Table 2). In particular, this deduction is enhanced with the
percentage of covered irrigation needs, which is equal to 89.75%
and is presented in Fig. 13. Moreover, the percentage contribution
of every renewable energy type appears in Fig. 14, making the

Fig. 8. Methodology flow chart. Fig. 11. Average monthly drinking water production (m [3]/month).

146
S. Skroufouta and E. Baltas
Fig. 12. Average monthly irrigation water production (m [3]/month).
Fig. 13. of covered irrigation needs (%).
Fig. 14. of energy type (%).
hydroelectric power the dominant in this particular HRES, keeping
in mind that the distribution is based once again on the final energy
type directed to the grid.
After calculating all previous sizes on an annual basis, the
Water-Energy-Food interactions can be examined, where they exist
between wind turbines, photovoltaics, desalination plant and Kar-
pathos. These interactions practically show whether the HRES uses
the renewable resources to the detriment of the environment. To do
this, it is necessary to compare the produced renewable energy
with the produced water and the water that is used for the
147
Renewable Energy 173 (2021) 141e150
operation of the HRES. Therefore, the total volume of water
required to produce electricity per year (Water for Energy) is
calculated, along with the total energy required for water produc-
tion per year (Energy for Water) and the total volume of water
required for production (Water for Food), which is essentially the
volume of irrigation water produced. Concerning the Water for
Energy, it is necessary to elucidate that the required water (as
shown on Table 3, Columns 2 and 6) is referred to operational needs
of the turbines, pumps, photovoltaics and desalination plant and it
is proportionate to the produced energy (Columns 4 and 6 of the
same table). Inferentially, from Table 4 results that more than
1750 MWh of energy is available for water production, while for
energy production the corresponding cubic meters are very small
and can be characterized as marginally insignificant.
In order to examine the financial viability of the investment, a
cost-benefit analysis is requisite. Net Present Value (NPV) is the
value obtained by discounting to present all of the annual net cash
provided throughout the term life of an investment (in our case 40
years) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is the discount rate at which
the NPV becomes zero. This method is used to estimate whether
our project is viable or not and the results are shown below.
To proceed with the analysis of production costs, we must define
the life of the research work, in which case it equals 40 years. The
investment amounts to 32.86  106 V. A 40% subsidy (13.14  106
V), will be provided through an operational program for the pro-
pulsion of renewable resources in the islands, with a bank loan for
50% of the investment (16.43  106 V) and the own participation
will amount to 10% (3.29  106 V). The repayment period of the
loan is considered equal to 10 years, using the equity method.
Therefore, the debt is calculated at 2.34  106 V and based on this,
in Table 4, the loan repayment is presented.
The tax rate on net profits is 35%, the discount rate is 3% and the
depreciation rate is 2.5%. While the residual value of the project is
considered null, it assumes that the State grants the right to a
private company for a certain period and after that time the project
is transferred back to the State, which can exploit the project itself
or give back to another company. Investment income comes from
the sale of water and energy. Fig. 15 and Fig. 16 show the changes in
NPV and IRR for different water and energy prices, in order to show
the efficiency of the project according to the selling price of water
and electricity.
Due to the large amount of energy and water produced, it is
observed that for a small increase in the selling price of either
energy or water, the NPV increases significantly. Correspondingly,
as the selling price of water increases, so does the cost of capital
that would make the present value of the investment null. The
benefits of the island’s energy autonomy should not be overlooked,
as well as, the multiple environmental benefits of the project, such
as the reduction of the consumption of conventional fuels. Conse-
quently, the HRES requires a local water and energy management
system, since the produced energy is not yet able to be distributed
out of the island.
5. Conclusions and future research
Karpathos confronts serious energy and water shortages to meet
its energy and drinking water needs, endangering the island’s in-
habitants, as well as, their economic development. This matter is
most acute during the summer months, due to increased tourist
influx, wedded to the irrigation needs. Additionally, water and
energy needs are incessantly augmenting as the population grows,
aggravating the problem. Karpathos will be able to meet a sufficient
percentage of these needs, with the construction of suitable pro-
jects for the exploitation of wind power and solar radiation. These
projects may include a photovoltaic and desalination plant and/or a
S. Skroufouta and E. Baltas Renewable Energy 173 (2021) 141e150

Table 1
Average monthly reliability of drinking and irrigation water needs.

Month Failure of Drinking Water Failure of Irrigation Water Reliability of Drinking Water Reliability of Irrigation Water

January e e 99.99 99.99

February e e 99.99 99.99
March e e 99.99 99.99
April e e 99.99 99.99
May e 1228 99.99 95.74
June e 5958 99.99 79.31
July e 15272 99.99 46.97
August e 12647 99.99 56.09
September e 304 99.99 98.94
October e e 99.99 99.99
November e e 99.99 99.99
December e e 99.99 99.99

Table 2 Concerning the results of the simulation model, it is drawn that

Average monthly produced energy and percentage of covered energy needs. the population of the island of Karpathos is increasing significantly
Month Produced Energy (MWh) Covered Energy (%) during the summer months due to tourism, while there is generally
a steady geometric increase in the population (both residents and
January 7196.32 58.09
February 6397.37 54.32
vacationers/tourists). This, therefore, causes corresponding in-
March 7371.45 66.27 creases in energy and water needs. In addition, the reliability of
April 6769.50 56.97 water supplies is almost 99.99%, while for energy and irrigation
May 7122.83 53.65 needs the average reliability is 50.63% and 89.75% respectively.
June 6933.63 46.78
Additionally, wind energy production is clearly fluctuating, due to
July 6002.03 34.28
August 6369.29 35.15 the sharp and unpredictable variation of wind speed. The
September 6700.67 43.02 maximum average monthly wind power generation appears in
October 6360.79 47.57 January and March (about 1400 MWh), where wind speeds are
November 6431.21 55.03 much higher than in other months. The production of wind and
December 6959.16 56.40
solar power in Karpathos is very satisfactory, due to the high wind
potential of the island and the increased hours of sunshine and
accounts for 37.02% of the total energy produced by the hybrid
wind farm, which can operate autonomously or integrated into an system. All things considered, the cost-benefit analysis shows that
already existing network. Hybrid projects enable the use of an increase in the selling price of electricity by 0.02 V/kWh results
renewable energy sources in networks with limited renewable in an increase of approximately 6.70  106 V in NVP and a water
energy absorption, such as non-interconnected islands. Desalina- increase of 0.2 V/m3 in an increase of 2.90  106 V, which may
tion is also major, both for the Greek arid islands and for the entire reduce the years required for its depreciation. Eventually, the IRR of
planet, due to the ever-increasing water scarcity. The fast-evolving various selling prices of desalinated water and energy ranges from
technology for desalination plants significantly reduces their cost 10% to 17%, extrapolating the economic viability of the HRES in
and increases their capacity respectively. The most widespread consideration.
desalination method is the reverse osmosis method, due to its low Based on this research work and its results, further research is
energy consumption and high desalination potential, but also its suggested concerning the optimization of the system. The quanti-
suitability for RES (such as Photovoltaic Parks and Wind Turbines). fication of the uncertainty of the input data and the estimation of

Table 3
Water-Energy-Food interactions.

Year Water for Energy (m3) Water for Food (m3) Energy for Water (MWh) Year Water for Energy (m3) Water for Food (m3) Energy for Water (MWh)

1 134.07 181761.33 1888373.39 21 57.99 170991.88 1857462.72

2 290.14 186353.88 2153082.85 22 348.31 186644.22 2099025.03
3 351.64 178302.92 2190000.00 23 316.57 186639.02 2083797.89
4 262.78 184649.55 2190000.00 24 447.98 185829.59 2190000.00
5 113.24 171921.33 1936714.54 25 449.09 184368.22 2190000.00
6 257.32 177097.08 2174754.74 26 449.44 189540.13 2190000.00
7 301.09 180084.40 2154485.13 27 483.13 183832.66 2190000.00
8 505.86 186838.43 2190000.00 28 209.15 180215.91 2013895.97
9 155.45 168248.87 2108011.32 29 240.86 182015.68 2133390.33
10 177.81 165227.24 2106524.60 30 326.70 184639.67 2190000.00
11 59.38 178201.33 1918465.73 31 357.31 178767.20 2115585.27
12 125.77 188040.93 2127430.16 32 258.37 183979.26 2049225.15
13 96.92 168126.27 1788314.52 33 123.79 186934.87 2097890.02
14 187.39 168192.39 2106811.74 34 74.57 178096.07 1927127.99
15 252.67 193506.07 2128307.51 35 212.72 164197.06 1966262.08
16 173.82 194562.77 2152093.76 36 227.74 198580.21 2081121.09
17 73.62 175625.98 2046046.40 37 496.72 195554.79 2190000.00
18 149.24 177488.68 2092611.35 38 495.96 185423.02 2190000.00
19 384.52 189580.53 2190000.00 39 230.62 178915.77 2016367.10
20 39.80 170637.52 1854207.70 40 107.67 183728.30 2070258.09

148
S. Skroufouta and E. Baltas Renewable Energy 173 (2021) 141e150

Table 4
Loan repayment.

Year Interest-bearing debt (x 106V) Debt (x 106V) Interest (x 106V) Bankruptcy Balance (x 106V)

0 0.00
1 2.34 1.19 1.15 15.24
2 2.34 1.27 1.07 13.97
3 2.34 1.36 0.98 12.61
4 2.34 1.46 0.88 11.15
5 2.34 1.56 0.78 9.59
6 2.34 1.67 0.67 7.92
7 2.34 1.78 0.55 6.14
8 2.34 1.91 0.43 4.23
9 2.34 2.04 0.30 2.19
10 2.34 2.19 0.15 0.00
Summary 23.39 16.43 6.96

Fig. 15. (a) NPV for various selling prices of desalinated water, (b) IRR for various selling prices of desalinated water.

Fig. 16. (a) NPV for various selling prices of energy, (b) IRR for various selling prices of energy.

the corresponding confidence levels of the results are of great in-
terest. In addition, the optimization of the model concerning the
better time and space distribution of water of different uses and
energy, to meet the corresponding needs is vital. Finally, in the case
where the islands of Karpathos and Crete are interconnected, the
power output would be a very intriguing project.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
S. Skroufouta: Formal analysis, Data curation, Methodology,
Software, Writing e original draft. E. Baltas: Supervision, Valida-
tion, Writing e review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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