PLOCAN hosts the launch meeting of the European project DESALIFE for seawater desalination using wave energy

The headquarters of the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) has hosted the launch meeting of the European project Desalination for Environmental Sustainability and Life (DESALIFE), led by the start-up Ocean Oasis Canarias and which will demonstrate and validate in the north of Gran Canaria the innovative desalination technology that uses wave energy.

All the project partners participated in the meeting: the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN), the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC), the Research Group on Renewable Energy Systems (GRRES) of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), elittoral, an environmental consultancy specialising in coastal and marine environments and Ocean Oasis Canarias. The event was attended by representatives of the Gran Canaria Island Water Council (CIAGC), which is participating in this innovation project as an associated entity and manager of the Arucas-Moya EDAM, which will act as the recipient of the production of fresh ocean water from the DESALIFE desalination buoys, with the aim of reaching up to 2,000 m3/day (annual average), a consumption equivalent to 15,000 people.

DESALIFE has a budget of approximately 10 million euros and is co-financed with 5.9 million euros by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) within the framework of the Circular Economy and Quality of Life Programme.

The meeting marks the official start of this leading European innovation project in the field of marine energy and desalination, which will last approximately five years.

PLOCAN’s director, José Joaquín Hernández Brito, pointed out that “the energy transition in the Canary Islands is urgent and PLOCAN is committed to the DESALIFE project to promote and accelerate the technologies to make it viable from a social, economic and environmental point of view”.

Sebastián Feimblatt, co-founder of Ocean Oasis and CEO of the Canary Islands delegation, highlighted “the importance of the institutions that have supported us in the development of this technology since we arrived in the Canary Islands three years ago, and the collaboration of both public and private institutions in the development of this project, which will allow us to desalinate water with wave energy in a sustainable way”.

DESALIFE aims to demonstrate wave-powered desalination as a sustainable and affordable solution to guarantee the future of the island’s water, additionally contributing to the local economy by attracting international investment and generating employment.

This floating technology desalinates seawater through a reverse osmosis process that uses only wave energy, so it does not consume electricity from the grid, avoiding associated CO2 emissions.

The use of marine energy for desalinated water production allows increasing the production capacity of this electro-intensive process through a renewable source without increasing electricity demand, contributing to the decarbonization of the islands and their energy indepedence.

DESALIFE is based on the technology developed by the Norwegian Ocean Oasis group that leverages the experience and knowledge of Norwegian offshore industry for its design. This technology has been perfected in the GAIA pilot buoy that has been operating in tests in the port of Las Palmas over the past year. DESALIFE is now moving towards a full-scale pre-commercial phase, an its production will be connected to the Arucas-Moya EDAM.

DESALIFE will study the replicability of the project to provide fresh water in a renewable way to other islands in the archipelago that also require greater water production, contributing to ensuring that the water is no longer a limiting factor in the region’s potential and thus facilitating the transition towards a sustainable, energy-efficient and climate-resilient economy in the archipelago.


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