Desalination for Environmental Sustainability And LIFE

Introduction

Globally, 1.5 billion people live in high- or extreme-water vulnerable areas. More than 300 million people rely on desalination for freshwater supply, and these are expected to triple by 2050.

Challenges of Onshore Desalination

However, onshore seawater desalination is:

• Energy- and carbon-intensive
• Disposing brine close to shore
• Consuming soil in land-scarce areas
• Having long planning and construction times
• Requiring high investments and operational costs

Ocean Oasis Solution

Ocean Oasis’ offshore wave-powered desalination buoy represents the most competitive alternative to conventional onshore desalination plants for the cost-efficient and zero-emission delivery of freshwater at large scale.

Project Objective

The overall objective of DESALIFE is to qualify, prove, and validate this breakthrough zero-emission desalination technology. This will be achieved by:

1. Piloting a small fleet of full-scale desalination buoys in the real operational environment of Arucas-Moya desalination plant, Canary Islands.
2. Reaching full commercial readiness at TRL8.
3. Verifying its social, environmental, and economic impact.

Replicability and Scalability

DESALIFE will also ensure the replicability and scalability of the desalination buoy solution in other water-scarce areas with wave energy potential and the exploitation of the project results and new IP.

Expected Outcomes

Throughout the piloting period of the DESALIFE project, 1.662 million m³ of emission-free fresh water are estimated to be produced. This will supply drinking water to 15,313 people per day and avoid the emission of approximately 2,379 tons of CO2 equivalents by only using the renewable and endless source of ocean waves.