Simulation of urban water distribution system for distributed power generation

Distributed power generation is an emerging technique for satisfying the growing power demand due to the continuous population growth in the urban areas. Successful siting of distributed power generator needs to consider the spatial demand for power and the supporting infrastructures. One of the important supporting infrastructures is water supply system. This paper describes a framework that integrates urban growth and water supply network simulation to facilitate the decision-making on possible distributed power generator sites. The urban growth model projects the population distribution, thus the energy demands, in the future. The water simulation tool, WaterGEMS V8i, provides the platform for simulating the water infrastructure, allowing the methodological water network analysis. This simulated water network with its outputs-loads, demands, and pressures, serves as inputs for the ArcGIS 9.3 framework. For the purpose of plant siting, the framework is based on GIS therefore the demands of water and energy, availability of infrastructure, and the surrounding environment are all geo-referenced and can be visualized for decision-making.