Sustainable Desalination and water scarcity solutions

DESOLINATION: Harnessing Solar Power for Desalination

Find out how the DESOLINATION project partners are revolutionising water desalination by combining advanced solar technologies with innovative desalination processes.

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Our Vision

Transforming Water Desalination

While the use of heat for desalination has been studies for centuries, recent technologies development have emphasised its main issue: competitiveness. DESOLINATION will tackle this issue by developing an innovative process coupling Concentrated Solar Power (or CSP) and forward osmosis desalination technologies for a coupled production of  renewable electricity  and freshwater. The innovative solutions will be demonstrated in real conditions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, first on an existing system and second on a next-generation one.

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To achieve this, our team will use forward osmosis (osmotic pressure) to induce a flow of seawater towards a draw solution. On its way, the water will pass through a membrane that will only let freshwater through, but will block salt. Using waste heat from the concentrating solar power plant, the diluted solution is heated until the fresh water can be recovered through a second membrane.

Tackling the world's water shortage through desalination combined with renewable energies

Water scarcity is a growing concern, with projections indicating that 40% of the global population will face shortages by 2030. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that only 3% of the world’s water reserves is freshwater, with seawater accounting for the remaining percentage.

Renewable energies are the key to achieving a zero-carbon economy and halting climate change. In 2019, solar energy accounted for around 11% of the world’s total renewable energy production, and its power generation capacity has increased by 16% since 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

These results are promising, but we need to do more.

To reach the EU’s target, solar power generation and other renewable energy technologies must become more efficient and less costly.

Desalination offers a viable solution, especially when coupled with renewable energy sources like solar power. By advancing these technologies, we can work towards a zero-carbon economy and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Key Features of Desolination

Innovative Desalination Process

Our cutting-edge technology combines waste heat from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) with forward osmosis to induce a flow of seawater towards a draw solution and produce freshwater efficiently.

Sustainable Energy Use

Our process uses waste heat from the concentrating solar power plant to heat a draw solution until the fresh water can be recovered, minimising energy consumption.

Scalable Solutions

Designed to be scalable, our technology can be adapted to different sizes and capacities to meet different needs.

Our Demonstration Site

The already existing 200kW CSP Plant in King Saud University Plant is an air Brayton cycle solar power tower. It will be coupled with the DESOLINATION heat recovery and innovative desalination systems to use the otherwise wasted resource.

As a second step, the site will also host the 2MWe CO2 blends power cycle, also linked to the desalination system and demonstrating efficient coupling of solar energy and water production.

What is a CSP Plant?Watch the Video

Horizon 2020 & Horizon Europe

The DESOLINATION project was made possible by funding from Horizon 2020, the European Commission’s research and innovation programme.

Funding available for Horizon 2020

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020).

Funding available for Horizon Europe

The Commission has published its proposal for Horizon Europe, an ambitious €100 billion research and innovation programme that will follow Horizon 2020.

Follow our revolution for Sustainable Water Desalination

Learn more about our innovative technologies and collaborations.

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