<p>The urgent need to mitigate climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions has accelerated the global transition from conventional to renewable energy sources. Among these, photovoltaic and wind energy have emerged as particularly promising options for integration into trigeneration systems, especially those designed to simultaneously produce power, heat, and freshwater through desalination. This study investigates the integration of renewable energy sources into trigeneration systems that include desalination, with the goal of maximizing renewable energy utilization while achieving targeted reductions in net carbon emissions. A series of system configurations were modeled and evaluated, incorporating scenarios with energy storage and varying degrees of backup from conventional sources. The assessment focused on system feasibility, operational performance, and cost-effectiveness. Results reveal that the choice of backup source significantly influences both the levelized cost of water production and the effective net carbon reduction achieved. These variations are primarily driven by differences in electricity generation technologies and emission reduction targets. Additionally, the type of renewable energy technology deployed impacts system performance; for instance, wind energy combined with solid waste incineration achieved the highest effective net carbon reduction. Interestingly, while wind energy is typically more cost-effective, photovoltaic systems can become economically preferable when paired with certain backup sources due to lower integration costs. These findings underscore the importance of tailored system design in optimizing the environmental and economic performance of renewable-based trigeneration systems.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>