Low energy desalination and wind energy — sustainable solutions for drinking water production

Abstract

ENERCON has manufactured and installed more than 6940 wind energy converters world wide with a total installed capacity of 5.8 GW with an energy production of more than 8.2 billion kWh/y. ENERCON also applies its technical and management know-how to desalination plants and has developed technical solutions for environmentally friendly desalination processes. The use of additives within membrane processes for antiscaling and antifouling can be avoided by physical effects during water flow. Prototypes on Mediterranean islands work without using any additives — a benefit for the marine environment (Barcelona Convention), for water quality and less expense for chemicals. ENERCON plants are low noise installations which can therefore be built close to drinking water consumers. The upcoming emission trading model (Kyoto Protocol) will also concern desalination plant operators, especially in the European Union. The energy levels in renewable energy resources fluctuate. For an energy efficient combination with desalination plants ENERCON has developed technical solutions so that plants can control the fluctuation of energy supply related to renewable energy resources. These desalination plants do not have a fixed point of operation — plants run in a range of 20–100% energy availability at optimum efficiency — with low energy consumption. Attention has to be turned to wind energy. Generally, desalination plants are located on the coast — which also presents excellent conditions for wind power, especially on islands. The system can work completely independently in regions without stable or any electrical networks, as well as integrated into a public net. During strong wind there is more energy available than the desalination process needs, so it can be fed into the public net. When wind conditions are poor the energy support can work the other way round. An innovative combination of desalination processes and renewable wind power can create a holistic system for water and even for energy supply. Also not being dependent on fossil energy sources may become a bigger advantage than we can expect nowadays. The prices for oil may rise in the future and the transport costs for oil (by ships or trucks) will remain a fixed expense. Investment costs per kWh from wind energy converters are steadily decreasing! Transport, set up, and expansion of ENERCON desalination plants are easily implemented because of the modular design. However, the combination with wind energy is not a must since plants ft together with all kinds of existing networks. Economic reasons are of main importance for decision makers in water services. Apart from saving expenses for fossil energy resources and additives, ENERCON desalination plants also reduce personnel costs because of fully automatic operation and a remote monitoring system. Operators can observe the plant from their offices and maintenance staff is informed about eventual problems by SMS.