This study, focused on Oman, has been motivated by the electrical power demand increase, global warming concerns, and technological advances in renewable energy production. The main objective of the study was to investigate the offshore wind potential and develop the wind atlas over the Oman Maritime Zone (OMZ). The study is based on wind data derived from the high-resolution numerical weather prediction (WRF) model. National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis global model data (0.5°) was used to derive a 9-km-resolution WRF model. This intermediate resolution was then further used to produce a high-resolution (3 km) WRF model. The model data were validated using ground measurement observations under different topographical conditions. Annual, seasonal, and monthly wind distribution over the OMZ are presented using the Geographical Information System environment from different heights above the mean sea level, namely 10 m, 20 m, 50 m, 80 m, and 100 m. In addition, the wind power density along the OMZ region was calculated as a postprocessing product of the model run. Finally, daily time series data are presented for selected points along the coastal areas of Oman. The study results show that the annual average wind speed over the southeastern region reached 8 m/s and peaked at above 10 m/s around the South Coast of Oman. Further, the wind speed during summer months (May–September) was much higher than in other months of the year.

District Heating (DH) is facing a tough competition in the market. In order to improve its competence, an effective way is to reform price models for DH. This work proposed a new dynamic price model based on the levelized cost of heat (LCOH) and the predicted hourly heat demand. A DH system in Sweden was used as a case study. Three methods were adopted to allocate the fuel cost to the variable costs of heat production, including (1) in proportion to the amount of heat and electricity generation; (2) in proportion to the exergy of generated heat and electricity; and (3) deducting the market price of electricity from the total cost. Results indicated that the LCOH-based pricie model can clearly reflect the production cost of heat. Through the comparison with other market-implemented price models, it was found that even though the market-implemented price models can, to certain extent, reflect the variations in heat demand, they cannot reflect the changes in production cost when different methods of heat production are involved. In addition, price model reforming can lead to a significant change in the expense of consumers and consequently, affect the selection of heating solution.

The oil spills in the vicinity of the Garo sulfidic springs in Golgir region, MIS oilfield, Iran, were investigated for halotolerant/halophilic microorganisms capable of crude oil biodegradation. Screenings resulted in an isolate capable of growth on crude oil of the local Asmari reservoir in media containing 30–100 g/L NaCl at 28 °C. The isolate, designed as KWPA-12, was an aerobic, motile, oxidase and catalase positive, Gram-negative rod. It was shown that strain KWPA-12 can utilize crude oil as the carbon and sulfur sources with a significant efficiency. The Asmari crude oil biodegradation in 90 g/L NaCl containing media was investigated by turbidity measurement, GC-FID and TPH analyses. The results showed that the aliphatic hydrocarbons including: small C11–C12 and long chains: C31–C33, are mostly favored by strain KWPA-12. Anthracene: a tri-ring and one of the most dominant poly-aromatic compounds of Asmari crude oil, was reduced down to about 1.1% of the starting moiety. Phylogenetic investigations performed on the partial 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the strain belongs to the genus Halomonas and it fell into the Halomonas elongata clade.

This paper describes power quality improvement, which has attracted the attention of the electricity distribution companies and subscribers. The idea of improving power quality is considered as the universal concept for various types of the power system disturbances. These aforementioned disturbances include noise, low voltage, overvoltage and middle harmonics, in general. The key goal of realizing the adaptation-based control strategy in this investigation is to reduce the grid current harmonics, in its efficient manner. It should be noted that there are some traditional and state-of-the-art techniques to improve power quality through the realization of active, passive or hybrid filters, respectively. In accordance with the growing applications of the renewable energy sources in distribution grids, the investigated research proposes the renewable energy sources in the studied grid. In the strategy presented here, the background of this topic is extensively considered and subsequently the above-referenced adaptation-based control strategy is designed, in order to deal with the converter signals, which are connected to the point of common coupling and also the direct current link. In summary, the main contribution of this investigation with respect to the state-of-the-art outcomes is made to improve power quality of the grid side and also to handle the transfer of the power betweenthe renewable energies and the corresponding grid, as well. The validity of the investigated outcomes is tangibly verified by considering the benchmarks, correspondingly.