Abu Dhabi university, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, has unveiled recently its research collaboration with three leading energy and clean technology corporations in a research project supporting the development of a full-scale, completely solar-powered, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The institute’s partners in the collaboration are: Masdar-Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, which works to develop and invest in renewable and clean energy in Abu Dhabi; GDF Suez subsidiary, Laborelec - a research centre and technical service provider specializing in power technology; and sustainable energy; and water treatment and services provider, Suez Environnement subsidiary, Degrémont.
President, of the Masdar Institute, Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, said the partners, “”hope to leverage our renewable energy experience and expertise to produce a cutting-edge SWRO plant powered exclusively by renewable energy.”
He added: “This research will help bring the UAE closer to its goal of producing a greater proportion of its electricity from renewable energy and will contribute significantly to the UAE’s research and development expertise.” The UAE derives most of its potable water from desalination driven by electricity from gas-fired power plants that produce nearly one third of the UAE’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The parties will work to optimize a design for solar energy powered SWRO desalination before demonstrating its capacity to produce the required quality and quantity of fresh water on a large scale.