Wind Powered Reverse Osmosis Desalination for Stand-alone Island Operation

Duration: 1996 – 1998 ● Client: European Commission (FP4) ● WIP Role: Coordination, Research and Innovation

WIP initiated and coordinated the EC funded project MODESAL between 1996 and 1998.

Within MODESAL a modular concept of wind powered reverse osmosis sea water desalination plants was developed and successfully operated in two configurations.

(1) RO plant installed on Tenerife, Spain
This RO plant combines a 30kW WEC with one RO block. The sea water desalination capacity is 120 m³/day.

(2) RO plant installed on Syros, Greece
This RO plant combines a 500kW WEC with eight RO blocks (see water desalination capacity: 930 m³/day).

The technology was provided by Enercon. Both plants were tested in stand-alone and grid-connected operation mode. The achieved water quality was good and the specific electricity consumption of the RO unit presented a new record in RO technology. The system allowed an optimum energy recovery across a broad output range and thus a specific energy consumption of 3,5 kWh/m³ water was feasible for salty seawater desalination (lower energy demand for brackish water desalination).