In this article, an integrated solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and micro gas turbine (MGT) with a multi-effect desalination (MED) system is proposed, and its comprehensive thermodynamic modelling, through energy and exergy analyses, is conducted. In addition, the effects of some design parameters on the hybrid system are investigated. The results show that fuel cell stack pressure has a significant effect on the combined system power and distilled water capacity. It also increases the SOFC-MGT energy efficiency. Moreover, the pressure of the inlet heating steam to the multieffect desalination system affects the pure water production in a positive way. An increase in the steam pressure results in a lower steam mass flow rate generated in the heat recovery steam generator. However, it increases desalination product capacity. Copyright (c) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.