Connecting Waterpeople
ACCIONA

You are here

ACCIONA leads initiative for integrated & sustainable production of water, energy in desalination

  • ACCIONA leads initiative for integrated & sustainable production of water, energy in desalination

About the entity

ACCIONA
The water business of ACCIONA concentrates on water treatment and reverse osmosis desalination, a technology in which it is the world leader.

ACCIONA, as part of its commitment to sustainability and availability of water (SDG6), launches the LIFE INDESAL project, aiming to increase energy efficiency of seawater desalination, the generation of renewable energy from brine and the transformation of the brine into chemicals needed within the desalination process itself, making the paradigm of the circular economy and sustainability a reality in the desalination field.

LIFE INDESAL will promote the implementation of an innovative configuration of leading-edge technologies consisting of a high energy efficient reverse osmosis system -based on low pressure multistage configuration (LMS-RO) to produce high quality water-; reverse electrodialysis (RED) -to treat the generated brines and obtaining energy from the salinity gradient of the LMS-RO brines (proprietary patented technology)- and electrodialysis with bipolar membranes (EDBM) -to treat the concentrated stream, generating chemicals for their application within the desalination process itself-.

These improvements aim at making the desalination plants self-sufficient in terms of the chemicals required, thus promoting its wider implementation. Considering a 450,000 m3/d reverse osmosis desalination plant as reference unit, LIFE INDESAL configuration would alleviate 49 GWh/yr, equivalent to 12,508 t CO2/yr, clearly offering a great potential.

These improvements aim at making the desalination plants self-sufficient in terms of the chemicals required, thus promoting its wider implementation

Within the framework of the project, a semi-industrial pilot unit will be designed and built to be operated in ACCIONA’s Leading Experimental Accelerator in Desalination (LEAD®) located in San Pedro del Pinatar desalination plant-II (Murcia, Spain) under a representative operational environment for two years. The results obtained will provide essential information for the scaling up and further implementation of the technology on a larger scale. The demonstrative character of the project and the maturity of the technologies at the project end will boost the implementation of LIFE INDESAL solution in new/refurbished seawater desalination plants, as well as in other industrial areas, further obtaining a multiplier effect in its technical, socio-economic and environmental impact.

In the Project, with a budget of 3.1 million €, four more international entities participate: the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering of the University of Cantabria (Spain), with long track record in energy and material recovery from liquid and gaseous residual effluents; APRIA Systems, a spin-off from the University of Cantabria with experience in advanced separation technologies for the treatment and recovery of different streams; REDstack, a Dutch spin-off from WETSUS focused on reverse electrodialysis power generation; and REVOLVE, a Belgian entity with extensive experience in communication within the water sector.

ACCIONA, a leading company in reverse osmosis desalination, contributes, with the development of this project, to reinforce its commitment to innovation and the application of the latest technologies, under the principles of circular and low-carbon economy.

LIFE INDESAL (LIFE21-ENV-ES-101074444) is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Topics of interest

The data provided will be treated by iAgua Conocimiento, SL for the purpose of sending emails with updated information and occasionally on products and / or services of interest. For this we need you to check the following box to grant your consent. Remember that at any time you can exercise your rights of access, rectification and elimination of this data. You can consult all the additional and detailed information about Data Protection.

Featured news

05/02/2024 · Business

Water Milestones in 2023: Over 140 million beneficiaries worldwide