With a budget exceeding 3.6 million euros and the support of the European Union, the international initiative project Aquasol began this June, which aims to integrate renewable energies into desalination technologies and wastewater treatment, boosting the ecological transition of the water sector.
The consortium is composed of seven partners from six European countries, including the Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya (IREC), the general coordinator, and the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC). Its duration will be three years.
## Sustainable Desalination Facing a Global Challenge
Desalination of seawater and brackish water is a strategic solution to ensure potable water in contexts of growing water stress. However, its high energy cost and dependence on fossil fuels limit its expansion and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Aquasol – an acronym for Advanced Quality Renewable Energy-Powered Solutions for Water Desalination in Agriculture and Wastewater Recycling – aims to develop a technological platform that facilitates the integration of renewable sources into these processes and generate disruptive solutions applicable to both agricultural irrigation and wastewater treatment.
## International Consortium with Complementary Experience
Participating in the project are:
– IREC (Spain) – Coordinator
– ITC (Spain) – Laboratory validation, pilot testing, and development of energy systems
– University of Manchester (United Kingdom)
– Strane Innovation (France)
– Ferr-Tech B.V. (Netherlands)
– farmB (Greece)
– Aarhus University (Denmark)
## Canary Islands as a Testing Ground for Real Solutions
ITC leads the technological validation in the HiL (Hardware-in-the-Loop) environment and pilot tests at the DESAL+ Living Lab, a real laboratory to test integrated water-energy technologies. Additionally, it participates in:
– Definition of use cases in island or agricultural environments
– Development of an Energy Management System (EMS)
– Evaluation of scaling potential and commercial introduction
## Towards a More Resilient and Low-Carbon Water Model
The project aligns with European objectives of emission reduction and climate change adaptation, proposing a decentralized, efficient, and sustainable model to address the dual challenge of water and energy.
