The consortium leading the Norwegian cleantech start-up Ocean Oasis received the grant to build and deploy the first zero-emission offshore seawater desalination buoys. They will provide water for 15,000 people in the Spanish island Gran Canaria.
Situated off the west coast of Africa, the Canary Islands face serious water shortage problems, putting pressure on already depleted water resources. As such, business and communities on the island have become much more dependent on sea water desalination for freshwater.
The consortium’s DESALIFE (Desalination for Environmental Sustainability And LIFE) project will test and validate Ocean Oasis’ wave-powered solution providing desalinated water from floating buoys in deep water off the coast of Gran Canaria.
Floating desalination buoys will increase the volume of affordable and sustainable freshwater available to the local population and farmers in the north region of the island. A pilot buoy, Gaia, has been employed already to validate the technology at a site offshore the Port of Las Palmas, made possible by co-funding from the European Innovation Council Accelerator, Innovation Norway and other funders.
Patent bending technology
The approach of the Oslo based company Ocean Oasis enables freshwater production in deep ocean waters using their patent-pending solution for capturing fluctuating wave energy to provide a stable flow of pressurized seawater to the membrane-based desalination devices. Using wave power the buoys do not need grid power and chemicals on board.
The desalinator delivers fresh water to shore through pipes along the seabed. According to the information given by the company a fleet of units could provide fresh water to an entire city.
Ocean Oasis team_ (L-R Dr Thomas Johannessen, Kristine Bangstad Fredriksen & Sebastian Feimblatt)
Dr. Thomas B. Johannessen, CTO, co-founder and inventor of the technology commented: “We are grateful and feel privileged to be given this opportunity to take the Ocean Oasis technology to the next commercial level. Wave power is abundant, and a concentrated energy form compared with solar and wind power. Whereas the power of the waves must be treated with respect in engineering and design of offshore structures, the pilot testing carried out to date suggests that direct desalination is a very good way to utilise wave energy bypassing many of the challenges associated with electricity production by wave power.”
Freshwater production to start in 2026
DESALIFE’s consortium aims to have the first pre-commercial buoys producing fresh water by mid-2026.
Kristine Bangstad Fredriksen, CEO and Co-Founder of Ocean Oasis, said: “At Ocean Oasis we believe that by harnessing the power of renewable energy, such as wave power, we have the potential to create a future where clean water is accessible and abundant, not scarce. We are honoured to lead the DESALIFE project consortium to deliver renewable powered desalinated water, with zero emissions, to Gran Canaria. This first-of a-kind project will demonstrate our solution for the Canary Islands, and the potential to deliver fresh water to other coastal areas and island nations facing water scarcity.”
The north coast of Gran Canaria was chosen for its wave potential, operating conditions and proximity to existing onshore desalination facilities. The local population currently relies on three desalination plants for drinking water. One of those, the Arucas-Moya seawater desalination plant will contribute to the implementation and operation phases of the DESALIFE project by integrating the offshore freshwater produced by the desalination buoys with its own production.
As a result, the facility will increase production by 2,000 m3/day on average, the equivalent of the daily consumption of 15,000 people. This will be achieved without the need to expand the existing on shore plant, or increase its energy consumption, CO2 emissions or its brine discharge from shore.
