The Norwegian Research Institute SINTEF, and the University of Science and Technology of Trondheim (NTNU), in cooperation with the Norwegian company Statkraft and in parallel with Wetsus, the Dutch research center on sustainable aquatic technologies, have developed a device that generates electricity by mixing river water and sea water.
This new process is based on a natural phenomenon: when a river flows into the sea, a large amount of energy is released due to the difference in salt concentration.
Norwegian and Dutch work on 2 different methods: the first is based on osmosis, the second on reverse electrodialysis. The 2 methods put into practice the use of membranes made of a material used for chemical separation.
In the Dutch project, the separation is done using membranes using electric current, like in a water cell. The Norwegian device applies pressure to force the passage of fresh water to salt water through the membranes. The pressurized mixture of fresh and salt water flows out of the module, in a turbine which produces electricity.
Both technologies will need to be further improved before finding commercial applications. Cost is one of the main obstacles: producing energy from a mixture of fresh and sea water remains much more expensive than wind or solar.
The biggest challenge is to find efficient membranes, robust enough to increase energy production while reducing the cost.
According to Rolf Jarle Aaberg, the Norwegian project leader, the energy produced by water will be ready to seriously challenge other renewable energy technologies between 2010 and 2015. In Norway, the potential of this technology is estimated at 10% of annual energy needs. In the Netherlands, the Rhine could supply 3000 megawatts - the equivalent of five large coal plants.
(Src: BE - French Embassy www.adit.fr )
Electricity generation by reverse electrodialysis
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