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INSTITUTE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, ENVIRONMENT

AND INNOVATION

Workshop ReportWorkshop ReportWorkshop ReportWorkshop Report, 27 April 2010, 27 April 2010, 27 April 2010, 27 April 2010

Brussels Brussels Brussels Brussels

A IMI Publication. All rights reserved. Brussels 2010 www.imieu.eu ISBN: 9789080592902

Editors François Lienard, Frank Neumann

Presentations and Contributions Frank Neumann

Institute for Infrastructure, Environment and Innovation

Gert-Jan Euverink

Wetsus

Pieter Hack

REDstack Oystein Sandvik Skramesto

Statkraft Thierry Langlois d’Estaintot

European Commission – DG RTD Willem Van Baak

Fujifilms Peter de Smet

Clean Energy Invest

François Lienard

Institute for Infrastructure, Environment and Innovation

Foreword: On basis of an international exploration of initiatives for energy from salinity gradient upon assignment of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs- Senter Novem - now Agency NL- in 2009, it seemed it would be extremely useful to co-operate at a European

level in order to enhance further development of salinity gradient electricity production. This report is the result of the first European workshop on salinity gradient in Brussels, upon initiative of the Institute of Infrastructure, Environment and Innovation.

In the preparation of the workshop it turned out that salinity gradient energy production so far remains not well known by other stakeholders in the renewable energy sector. However, all the stakeholders that were interviewed prior to this workshop were

motivated participate and co-operate on common problems of salinity gradient energy production -amongst others: 1) Bio fouling, 2) Issues related to membrane technology and 3) Ecological aspects

They stated that it would be very useful if a true market chain could develop. In addition, some financers and organisations that provide funding for renewable energy innovations were interested in forecasts of possible pathways to commercialization.

By the attendance to this workshop, stakeholders from the different parts of the market as well as representatives from the European Commission and other European Organizations, more light was shed on the selected issues. The possibility at this workshop for the participants to actually witness the first demonstration of salinity gradient energy production in Brussels in the

presence of European authorities enhance the debate regarding impediments of this technology that seems to have a great potential. The further development of this potential could be greatly enhanced by initiating a more structured European co-operation at different levels, an issue that will be explored as follow-up from this workshop. The Belgian technical co-operation is thanked for its hospitality in the use of the meeting room and all the speakers and

discussants, as well as participants from Norway, German, Belgium/Flanders and The Netherlands are thanked for their contribution. This seems to be the start of a promising co-operation.

François Lienard Frank Neumann

Table of Contents

Press Release............................................................................................................................................5

Programme of the conference of the 27th April..........................................................................................6 Introduction:.............................................................................................................................................8

The salinity gradient power initiatives outside EU.....................................................................................9

The case study from Reverse Electro Dialysis in Netherlands:.................................................................13

State of the art and perspective of the Pressure Retarded Osmosis ........................................................17

The development and production of membranes for Blue energy: past, present, and future...................19

The Ocean Energy sector in the European Commission: support programmes ........................................22 Leverages and bottlenecks for investment ..............................................................................................24

Conclusions:............................................................................................................................................26

Photos from the conference ....................................................................................................................28

Press Release

On the 27th April, Brussels will welcome the Stakeholders of Osmotic energy

Right into the Climate change initiative, the exploration of new renewable energy source is a challenging and captivating activity. From this perspective, Scientific analysis indicates that a flow of one cubic meter of fresh water into the sea can yield a theoretical maximum of 3 MW of energy. In theory, a stream flowing at 1 m3/s could produce 1 MW of electricity. Early estimations calculated the worldwide fresh to seawater salinity resource at 2.6 TW. The process being perfectly natural, is non polluting, predictable and reliable. The challenge lies in elaborating the most efficient technique to extract this natural energy from the salinity gradient in the water IMI was earlier involved in a international quickscan about Osmotic energy (energy generation using the salinity gradient of fresh and salt water) and thought of gathering in Brussels all the relevant stakeholders of the Osmotic energy production. The goal of the meeting is to explain what is the state of the art of this technology in the Netherlands and in Norway, what are the constraints (ecological and technical) and what are the advantages and which support can Osmosis have from EU institutions. This event is one efficient way of getting the most up to date knowledge for this growing technology of renewable energy

BLUE ENERGY GENERATION

Brussels, The 27th of April 2010

Belgium Technical Cooperation

Organization

First European Meeting

PROGRAMME

09.15 Opening of the meeting room and coffee / tea service provided 09:45 Welcome word Foreword from Institute for Infrastructure, Environment and Innovation (IMI)

� Mr. Frank Neumann, IMI 10.00 Brief Introduction round of participants All the participants will have the occasion to present themselves and their activity in the innovative sector of energy production via salinity gradient devices (PRO / RED). 10.15 Overview of salinity gradient energy production initiatives outside EU

� Mr. François Lienard, IMI

10.45 Blue Energy: What is it and how does it work ? � Mr. Gert-Jan Euverink, Wetsus � Display and demonstation of an RED device

model Question round and Coffee Break 11.30 Marine renewables from the EU Commission perspective

� The Blue Energy seen from the EU Commission

Mr. Thierry Langlois d’Estaintot, European Commission – DG RTD

12.00 Lunch Break 13.15 State of the Art of the Osmosis energy production in Europe

� The Norvegian solution for Blue Energy: Pressure Retarded Osmosis developments

Mr. Oystein Kramesto Sandvik, Statkraft � The Dutch approach of Blue Energy: Reverse

Electro Dialysis developments Mr. Pieter Hack, REDstack

14.15 State of art of membrane developments for osmotic RED devices

� The development and production of membranes for Blue Energy: past, present and future

Mr. Willem Van Baak, Fujifilms

14.45 Discussion

15.15 Potential developments and opportunities, leverages and bottlenecks for investments

� Peter de Smet, Clean Energy Invest 15.45 How to seize the market of energy innovation ?

� Jan Van den Ende, Rotterdam School of Management (Technology & Innovation dept.)

16.15 Discussion

16.30 Conclusions and follow up steps. Feasibility for potential EU cooperation ? 16.45 End of the meeting 17.00 Small drink

Market opportunities and Pathway to commercialization

• What are the costs of Blue Energy ? Capital, maintenance, R&D ?

• What are the non-technical barriers attached to this new energy production technique ? (European directives, mitigation measures, nature protection regulations)

• What information to communicate to the civil society to accept blue energy production in estuaries ?

• Methods to enhance business economic viability ?

Common problems and how to solve them ?

• Can membrane producers lower their costs ?

• Water pretreatment challenges

• Biofouling of membranes

• Brackish water release

• Possible impacts on the environment? (Fish & organisms impingement, modification of the salinity, erosion of metallic structure,…)

• Prerequisite of a valuable blue energy production site ? (m3/ s, salinity gradient,…)

Introduction:

Aside from the “classical” renewable energy source like tidal or wind energy, salinity gradient power generation is striving to get its place and mention in the RES plan to be explored by the member states. The theoretical potential of MW/h is quite high and the technique ensures a constant production, as regular and powerful as the flow of a river to the sea. Salinity Gradient Power generation is not a “new” principle. The concept of extracting energy in using the difference of salinity between two water bodies has been discovered in the Early 70’s by Sydney Loeb.

“Salinity power” exploits the chemical differences between salt and fresh water, and this project only hints at the technology’s potential: from the mouth of the Ganges to the Mississippi delta, almost every large estuary could make green electricity, day and night, rain or shine, without damaging sensitive ecosystems or threatening fisheries. One estimate has it that salinity power could eventually provide as much as seven per cent of today’s global energy needs.

It’s important at this stage to make a clear distinction between the two techniques that were exposed in the workshop: The Reverse Electro Dialysis (RED) and the Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO).

To simplify, the RED technique uses ionic exchange between fresh and salt water. In the device, the water bodies are separated with membranes allowing only ions to cross. Anions and cations are crossing different membranes and this phenomenon generates energy.

The PRO technique is closer to the osmosis principle. It uses the difference of density between the water bodies. When separated by a special membrane, the water bodies tend to equilibrate, thus generating a huge pressure. This pressure is then used to generate energy.

As we will see, the first salinity gradient power project funded by the commission was under FP5. It started in 2001 and lasted until 2004. Things have moved forward since then.

In this workshop, the main technology developers together with other main stakeholders will identify technical and non technical obstacles to the development of this innovative technology and what could be the possible solutions to bring it to the market.

The salinity gradient power initiatives outside EU

Institute for Infrastructure, Environment and Innovation

François Lienard

The Hydrocratic Generator The system consists of three components: 1) a fresh water injection system, 2) an open vertical tube immersed in the water column, and 3) a means to extract the energy (such as an underwater turbine) and deliver the power to shore.

Just as it takes energy to separate an amount of fresh water from a body of salt water, such as through solar evaporation or using the well-known reverse-osmosis desalinization process, remixing the fresh water back into the ocean waters results in the release of an equal amount of stored energy (approximately 2.84 kJ/kg) of fresh water.

If this source of latent stored energy could somehow be efficiently exploited, it could result in the production of enormous amounts of inexpensive electrical power from a heretofore untapped and continually renewable energy resource.

A patented technology, known as the Hydrocratic Generator1 captures the free energy of mixing between two bodies of water having different salinity

1 W. Finley and E. Pscheidt, “Hydrocratic Generator,” United States ( 2001).

concentrations. The technology does not require the use of any type of membrane and can be used to recover energy from a wide variety of environments. During tests of an upwelling device, it was discovered that the amount of upwelling flow was in excess of the energy put into the system in terms of hydraulic head and buoyancy. By reducing the salinity at depth in the aphotic zone, nutrient-rich water could be delivered to the surface ocean, thus fertilizing the immediate area. Experiments using a modified upwelling device where fresh water was introduced into a vertical tube in the water column confirmed that the total hydraulic energy output of the system significantly exceed the input from buoyancy and hydraulic head.

Fresh water is introduced into the bottom of the vertical tube. Fresh or low salinity water is conducted through a tube from a reservoir on shore. The low salinity water then in direct contact with the high salinity water enters an enclosed second tube to form a mixture. The second tube, known as the “vertical tube”, is a cylinder in which fluid is in communication with the source of relatively high salinity water through one or more openings. Contacting the higher salinity water causes entrainment into and upwelling of the mixture within the vertical tube. The system generates power using a process, which efficiently exploits the osmotic energy potential between two bodies of water having different salinities. The process overcomes past limitations, such as expensive semipermeable membranes or specially formulated bioelastomers.

A set of tests on small-scale systems in 50,000-liter pool and in natural seawater conditions in a harbor has validated the concept. Test to date include injecting fresh water (up to 5.5 x 10-3 m3/s) into tubes with varying diameters (15 – 60 cm) and lengths (< 6 m) undertaken in a harbor setting. Results indicate a strong correlation between the rate of fresh water injected and the rate of flow exiting the device. Seawater entrainment, on the order of 10 to 30 times the fresh water volume, has been observed.

Wader LLC is a California Limited Liability Company established to support innovative

advances in ocean‐based technology. The company

is dedicated to the creation of technology that will benefit ocean ecology. Solar Pond

Solar ponds generally utilize a one to two meter salinity gradient and operate at moderately high temperatures.

A salinity gradient solar pond is an integral collection and storage device of solar energy. By virtue of having built-in thermal energy storage, it can be used irrespective of time and season. In an ordinary pond or lake, when the sun's rays heat up the water this heated water, being lighter, rises to the surface and loses its heat to the atmosphere. The net result is that the pond water remains at nearly atmospheric temperature. The solar pond technology inhibits this phenomenon by dissolving salt into the bottom layer of this pond, making it too heavy to rise to the surface, even when hot. The salt concentration increases with

depth, thereby forming a salinity gradient. The sunlight which reaches the bottom of the pond remains entrapped there. The useful thermal energy is then withdrawn from the solar pond in the form of hot brine. The pre-requisites for establishing solar ponds are: a large tract of land (it could be barren), a lot of sun shine, and cheaply available salt (such as Sodium Chloride) or bittern2.

Generally, there are three main layers. The top layer is cold and has relatively little salt content. The bottom layer is hot -- up to 100°C (212°F) -- and is very salty. Separating these two layers is the important gradient zone. Here salt content increases with depth. Water in the gradient cannot rise because the water above it has less salt content and is therefore lighter. The water below it has a higher salt content and is heavier. Thus, the stable gradient zone suppresses convection

2 Center for Environmental Resource Management; The University of Texas

at El Paso; www.research.utep.edu

and acts as a transparent insulator, permitting sunlight to be trapped in the hot bottom layer from which useful heat may be withdrawn or stored for later use.

Solar pond of University of Texas at El Paso

The Osmotic Heat Engine In systems that use natural streams of differing salinity, such as seawater and river water, a system of this type is referred to as open-cycle PRO. In closed-cycle systems, however, both the dilute feedwater and the concentrated draw solution are recycled in the system by the use of input heat.

Concept developed by Robert L. McGinnis and Menachem Elimelech Yale University (Chemical and Environmental Engineering dept.)

Investigations into possible methods of designing closed-cycle PRO systems have been similar in many ways to investigations into methods of FO. Many potential draw solutions have been considered, as has the vaporization of water to reconstitute the dilute feed, in a method paralleling the separation techniques of thermal desalination systems.3

For the Osmotic Heat Engine developed by Yale, the thermal efficiency of this system is not currently high, approaching 10−15% of the efficiency of an ideal

3 Robert L. McGinnis and Menachem Elimelech; Global Challenges in

Energy and Water Supply: The Promise of Engineered Osmosis; Environ. Sci. Technol., 2008, 42 (23), pp 8625–8629

Carnot engine over a range of temperatures from 40 °C to 150 °C4.

The cost of producing electricity by this method, however, could be quite competitive with existing means of power production. There are several reasons for this, including efficient use of membrane area, due to a high membrane power density (W/m2 of membrane area); relatively inexpensive distillation column construction costs; and the use of a compact liquid turbine

The modeling indicates that the maximum membrane power density is achieved when the hydraulic pressure is approximately 50% of the osmotic pressure.

4 McGinnis, R. L. A novel ammonia−carbon dioxide osmotic heat engine for

power generationJ. Membr. Sci. 2007

The case study from Reverse Electro Dialysis in Netherlands:

Gert Jan Euverink, Wetsus

Pieter Hack, REDstack

Explanation of the concept of Reverse Electro Dialysis.

In a reverse electrodialysis system, a number of cation and anion exchange membranes are stacked in an alternating pattern between a cathode and an anode. The compartments between the membranes are alternately filled with a concentrated salt solution and a diluted salt solution. The salinity gradient results in a potential difference (e.g. 80 mV for sea water and river water) over each membrane, the so-called membrane potential. The electric potential difference between the outer compartments of the membrane stack is the sum of the potential differences over each

membrane. The chemical potential difference causes the transport of ions through the membranes from the concentrated solution to the diluted solution.

“BlueEnergy” generates electricity by moving ions rather than water molecules across membranes. Their membranes are along the same lines as those used in kidney dialysis machines. In fact, their system requires two kinds of membrane - one permeable to positive ions, the other to negative ions. Both are impermeable to water.

Using different gradients of salinity leads to different efficiency results.

In June 2008, Redstack began a trial at a salt factory in the Dutch town of Harlingen. The location is convenient because of the available salt brines and proximity of fresh and seawater. It’s easy to perform tests with different gradients of salinity. The development stage is following the work plan. The RED device is now of the size of a container and Wetsus is collaborating with REDstack to upscale and find a proper location. The first 1MW plant should be implemented in 2014 in the Afluitsdijk.

Membrane design is still an issue. The water-flow rate must also be optimized. But since only ions cross the membrane, there is less mass flowing across the membrane than with their rival's technology (Pressure Retarded Osmosis, NFTA), and so silting problems are reduced.

The spacers between the membrane layers still need to be better designed for optimizing the water circulation in the device.

Artist impression of a RED power plant. Such optimum spatial configuration has already been identified in the port of Rotterdam.

It is possible to create a RED power plant with only a light modification of the existing infrastructure.

According to Dutch engineer Joost Veerman, it’s possible to tap this energy without damaging the environment or disrupting the river’s busy shipping. Mr. Veerman and his colleagues at Wetsus, the Dutch Centre for Sustainable Water Technology in Leeuwarden, believe they can tap energy locked up in the North Sea’s saltwater by channelling it, along with fresh water from the Rhine, into a novel kind of battery. With a large enough array of these batteries, he says. The estuary could easily provide over 500 MW of “Blue Energy” – enough electricity to supply about 325,000 homes.

One stack of RED membrane exposed outside of the experimental plug and play device The RED machine is of the size of 1 container. Working schedule of Wetsus

What is REDStack and how does it cooperate with Wetsus ?

• first spin-off company of WETSUS • j.v. between:

- Landustrie Sneek - Hubert Stavoren - MAGNETO Schiedam

• founded in 2005 Its goal is to development, up scaling; implementing; marketing of • technology & key components • overall processtechnology • process units • membranes -> composition

-> model/mechanical -> spacers Pilot projects:

• WETSALT 2008 • Saltmine Frisia ESCO Harlingen 2009 • Afsluitdijk river/sea 2010 Although there’s an important perspective for energy production with this technology, the early stage of development still requires research activities and therefore would be facilitated by support in terms of funding. The renewable energy directive is an incentive to explore the national potential for renewables. The relevant action is to demonstrate and convince that RED electricity generation is a true asset.

Markets for application • surfacewater river/sea • saltmines • rejects of desalination plants • concentrated discharges

REDstak focuses on the business development and on market opportunities. They already identified some of the bottlenecks to the growth of this technology:

• Public authorities and social acceptance RED/PRO as real option

• Impact on local environment of such plants • Long-term support at implementation

8

REDstack is now focusing on more compact solutions. The competition is this sector is not considered as a threat yet because of the large research to be done on the components, site selection, water use… Several sites suitable for RED energy are being assessed. One interesting location is the port of Rotterdam because of the proximity of the water bodies.

State of the art and perspective of the Pressure Retarded Osmosis

Statkraft

Oystein Skramesto

This picture shows the concept of PRO illustrated by the existing devices in the Statkraft site. Apart from upgrading the existing technique, Statkraft likes to put efforts on the operation and energy production. Statkraft is an energy supplyer and has the ambition to sell energy. Build power plants, operate them and sell the electricity.

Still are remaining some issues. The water pretreatment consumes too much power, the proper membrane type still has to be identified (Holofiber / Flat Sheet) It is crucial to get out of the research stage to get better recognition and commercial support. Salinity gradient power should get along with other renewable energy sources.

HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit at the opening at Tofte together with the minister ofPetrolum & Energy, Terje Riis-Johansen on the 24th November 2009 Future pathway to commercialization has several steps foreseen: For 2012 Concept selection and validation Until 2014: Contruction and operatio, of a 2MW power plant as a pilot project to prove the concept and demonstrate the efficiency 2017:

Demonstration plant of 25MW. Delivering and selling electricity to the grid. Bringing the costs down and and preparing the full scale installations.

The development and production of membranes for Blue energy: past, present, and future

Fujifilm

Willem Van Baak

Membranes are an essential component of the salinity gradient devices. Membrane developers are strong stakeholders of this sector. It is important that both activities cooperate fully. Salinity gradient techniques are Pressure Retarded Osmosis and Reverse Electro Dialysis. These two techniques are using different membranes. Originally, the membranes were used in desalination techniques. Nowadays, the desalination is performed by Retarded Osmosis.

The desalination market dragged the R.O. membrane prices down.

• Electro Dialisys

� Commercialisation 1960

� Desalination of water

• only ions pass the membrane by electrical field

• no additional pressure

� Drawbacks:

• no virus/bacteria removal

• no organic matter removal

• Less energy efficient at higher salt concentration

� Application: mainly ED for brackish water, waste water, boiler feed water.

• Smaller markets

• Retarded Osmosis

� Commercialisation 1970

� Desalination and purification of water

• water is pressed through the membrane at high pressure

� Drawback

• More sensitive for fouling

� Application in mass market: sea water desalination, waste waters

Current performance •Power density = 3 W/m2

•Target = 5 W/m2

Current performance •Power density = 1.2W/m2

•Target = 2 – 3 W/m2

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

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1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

year

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PRO and RED technique do not use the same membrane to produce electricity. There’s a clear difference in market opportunity because of the membrane price.

Because RO membranes are already used in water desalination, the PRO technique benefit from already absorbed costs in R&D. Fortunately, the R&D in membrane development was supported in 2008 by a subsidy programme (Innowator I) from the Dutch government. RED membrane developers received the signal that they should put efforts on the development of a more efficient and cheaper RED membrane. The RED sector is of great interest for membrane developers: 200MW power station: 100 million m2 of membrane. However, the market is not stimulated by competition and the production of high quality membrane leads to high prices. The developed membranes are of homogenous type and will be tested in a Blue Energy pilot (WETSALT pilot, sea – river water). The expected start date: June 2010 in Harlingen (NL) in collaboration with REDSTACK and WETSUS

The salt mine near Harlingen (NL). This site is also a very

interesting location for testing because of the easy access and abundance of seawater, saline brines and freshwater.

PRO membrane

• One membrane type needed

• Modification to “PRO” membranes

� Hydrophilic support

� More “FO” membrane

• More sensitive for fouling

• Price: close to target

RED membranes

• Two types needed: AEM & CEM

• Heterogeneous & Homogeneous types � Heterogeneous :cheaper, thick,

moderate power density (0.5 W/m2) � Homogeneous: expensive, thin, better

power density (1 –1.2 W/m2)

• No special R&D for RED membranes

• Price target: 5 – 50 times too expensive

To summarize: � Pilot test at WETSALT for several months

• Membrane and RED performance • Experience fouling & scaling

� Reduce filtration needs and hydraulic pump losses

• Smart flow profile and stack design

� Double power density to 2 – 3 W/m2 • Spacer shadow effect limit power

density • Proof of principle made by WETSUS

� R&D collaboration

• Subsidised by the Dutch program” Innowator II”

The Ocean Energy sector in the European Commission: support programmes

European Commission – DG RTD

Thierry Langlois-d’Estaintot

There is an increasing consideration for all kind of ocean energy extraction technologies. Thus growing attention is clearly shown by the expansion of the funds available in this area. Salinity gradient power is, among other technologies, something that needs to receive support for its research. The salinity gradient power benefited from the FP5 funding scheme. The project lasted from nov. 2001 to October 2004. The consortium was composed of Statkraft (NO) ICT.POL (P), SINTEF (NO), the Helsinki University of Technology (FIN), the GKSS (D), and a support from a research department from the European commission.

Project cost: 3,371,285 € EU Funding: 1,808,752 €

The current FP7 is helping the research in different fields of marine energy extraction. For instance, EQUIMAR project Testing and Evaluation of Marine Energy Extraction Devices

CORES project Components for Ocean Energy Systems

EU Investments in Ocean Energy R,D&D

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

FP1 FP2 FP3 FP4 FP5 FP6 FP7

Framework Programme

Inv

es

tme

nts

(M

EU

R)

Eligible costs: EUR 5,4 M EU max contribution: EUR 4 M

Eligible costs: EUR 4,5 M

EU max contribution: EUR 3,4 M

IT POWER project 1,2 MW tidal power prototype with oscillating Hydrofoils to exploit tidal currents Eligible costs: EUR 13,9 M EU Investment: EUR 8,0 M WAVE PORT 600 kW point absorber Installation in Spain

WAVE BOB 500 kW point absorber Installation in Portugal

SURGE project Coordinator : AW-Energy Oy

Installation in Portugal

MARINA PLATFORM project Multipurpose floating platform Potential combination with wind energy

With its experience in project funding and monitoring, the European commission listed the following statements as the most common issues encountered in projects

. withdrawal or non accession to the contract of an important partner,

. takeover of the technology provider by a company the priorities of which are not compatible with the negotiated research project;

. difficulties in obtaining the necessary authorisations and permits

. difficulties in the financing of the project, amplified by the recent financial environment;

Eligible costs: EUR 7,9 M EU Investment:EUR 4,6 M

Eligible costs: EUR 8,5 M EU Investment: EUR 5,1 M

Eligible costs: EUR 5,7 M EU Investment: EUR 3,0 M

Eligible costs: EUR 12,8 M EU max contribution: EUR 8,7M

. difficulty to propose an alternative solutions to the above within a reasonable time frame.

Ocean energy in the 2011 call

. No new demonstration projects suggested

. Ocean Energy ERA-NET research topic

. Related « Ocean of Tomorrow » research topic on RES synergies with other sectors

Leverages and bottlenecks for investment

Clean Energy Invest Peter de Smet

Cost / kWe goes down over time with installed capacity

Initial R&D largely depends on public funding of

research institutions, grands and venture capital

Government support RE varies over time, depending on policy objectives and production

costs

Pioneers and venture capitalists produce

prototypes

As cost / kW lowers and government support matches ROI expectations, equity-investors show

interest

At different stage of development, the technology addresses different type of financers with a

different risk approach. Of course, the above trend is clearly showing that

the potential funding available increases when the risk decreases.

Global New Investment in Sustainable Energy, 2002-2008,$ billions

Bottlenecks & Leverages for salinity gradient:

� Global RE-policies prioritize large scale role out of mature technologies (wind, solar,

biomass) to match RE-targets � Financial crisis reduces R&D budgets and

bank financing opportunities � Early stage technology = high risk

� Policy and regulatory risk

� Potentially 2.6 TW globally � Highest density of all marine resources

� Clean and green � Non-periodic power production

� Global awareness of the urgent need to

tackle climate change by all means

Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2009

22 2735

60

93

148155

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

S/RP, corp RD&D, gov R&D

Financial investment

Growth: 25% 29% 73% 54% 59% 5%

S/RP = small/residential projects. New investment volume adjusts forre-invested equity. Total values include estimates for undisclosed deals

Source: New Energy Finance

Conclusions:

This workshop gathered relevant stakeholder of salinity gradient power generation in Europe. Let’s first have a general statement of the admitted technological problems. Based on the results from the model calculations, it can be concluded that each technique has its own field of application. Pressure-retarded osmosis seems to be more attractive for power generation using concentrated saline brines because of the higher power density combined with higher energy recovery. For the same reason reverse electrodialysis seems to be more attractive for power generation using sea water and river water5. The technologies have been confirmed in laboratory conditions. They are being developed into commercial use in the Netherlands (RED) and Norway (PRO). The cost of the membrane has been an obstacle. A new, cheap membrane, based on an electrically modified polyethylene plastic, made it fit for potential commercial use. These conclusions are valid for both present and latent performances of both techniques. According to the model, the potential performances of both techniques are much better than the current performances. In order to achieve these potential performances, the development of pressure-retarded osmosis must focus on membrane characteristics, i.e. increasing the water

5 Jan W. Post, Joost Veerman, Hubertus V.M. Hamelers, Gerrit J.W.

Euverink, Sybrand J. Metz, Kitty Nymeijer, Cees J.N. Buisman ; Salinity-gradient power: Evaluation of pressure-retarded osmosis and reverse electrodialysis; Journal of Membrane Science; Feb. 2007.

permeability of the membrane skin and optimization of the porous support. The development of reverse electrodialysis, however, must focus on system characteristics, i.e. optimization of the internal resistance, which is mainly determined by the width of the spacers. Besides the power density and energy recovery, the practical behavior or the sensitivity for fouling is a key-indicator which should be investigated. Furthermore, the feasibility of these techniques will mainly depend on reduced membrane prices. It is believed that the membrane prices, especially for reverse electrodialysis, will decrease significantly once a new membrane market for power generation emerges. Therefore, it is worthwhile to further investigate and develop both membrane techniques in order to make sustainable conversion of salinity-gradient energy available for the future. However PRO and RED techniques are not under the same constraints in their fight against fouling, practical questions remain: What method will give the best water pretreatment? How to rapidly clean 100 Km² of membrane without polluting ? The new power plants can be built wherever fresh water meets salt water, such as the outlets from existing hydroelectric power stations, and could even be placed underground. Statkraft and the European Commission put the production potential in Europe at 200 terawatt hours a year, or nearly twice the electricity consumption of a country like Norway. The potential in Norway alone is estimated at 10 percent of its annual power needs. The river Rhine, for instance, could deliver 3,000 megawatts of power where it flows

into the sea in the Netherlands - the equivalent of five big coal-fired plants6. Follow up actions

On the 27th of April 2010, we tried to elaborate the most useful follow up actions to take. A joint cooperation appears to be a valuable solution. Statkraft and REDstack are competitors in the use of resources but they both admitted that there are too many rivers to be a real problem. For the moment, it’s important that both technologies evolve in parallel to share information on common problems, stimulate the competition for the membrane producers. This will also stimulate the supply chain companies to lobby in the same direction. The major action to achieve is to get the salinity gradient energy to be known as renewable energy source and therefore considered as part of the member states plan for climate change. The sector has to upscale in order to clearly show its potential of energy production and demonstrate its interest to be considered and supported. This of course goes with national supporting measures, for instance in the feed-in tariff or in facilitating the designation of a demonstration site. To reach this goal at European Level, considerable content discussions have been held. Of course, the same kind of initiative should be taken nationally. One proposed follow up action could be held to help the development of this energy production technique is

6 Anna Mudeva , Norwegians, Dutch Mix Sea and River To Make Power,

Reuters December 19, 2005

the creation of an informal interaction network to gather and share technical and non-technical information to contribute to the work of the sector representation in its communication role in providing it with up to date and relevant information. This cooperation should be an interactive platform to exchange information on technical topics (eg. water pretreatment), relations with stakeholders in designated / protected areas, social acceptance and communication, organization of site visits, meetings, EU regulation monitoring, business models and pathways to commercialization. Future modes of cooperation are being developed such as site visits, workshops and communication plans.

Photos from the conference

The participants to the Blue Energy Conference on the 27th of April in Brussels. In the middle of the picture is the model of a RED device from Wetsus.

Oystein Skramesto (Statkraft) explaining the state of the art of PRO development

Discussion round about the pathways to commercialization

Gert Jan Euverink (Wetsus) showing the principle of RED technique

The RED device model and some interested crowd asking questions to Mr. Euverink

THE INSTITUTE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND INNOVATION is an independent Brussels-based non-profit organisation. Its mission is to initiate and implement projects at European and local level that demonstrate that the development of infrastructure can be reconciled with nature protection and environmental goals. Apart from initiating, financing, and developing European co-operation focusing on sustainability, occasionally the Institute also gives individual, practical, organisational and legal advice with respect to the implications of European Nature Protection Policy for projects and plans. IMI gives advice on infrastructure projects, management plans and nature restoration measures, in relation to Natura 2000, not only in coastal zones and estuaries, but also on land based projects, and provides legal risk analysis and checks conformity with European nature protection legalization for development projects, nature restoration measures and integral management plans.

Project funding of the Institute comes mainly from national, local, and regional governments and government project organisations. The start-up of new projects is mostly done independently by the Institute on its own behalf. So far, the working programme has particularly focused on infrastructure within coastal zones, coping with environmental protection and also renewable energy production, implementing and promoting innovative techniques. IMI is also involved in Marine, Wind and Solar energy and more recently energy generation through salinity gradient. These are the fields in which IMI leads research action.

The Institute employs a small multi-disciplinary and international staff. Working languages include English, French, Dutch, Spanish, German and Latvian.

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