Energy and Water Nexus

1. Desalination Technology Outlook Dolf GielenDirector IRENA Innovation and Technology CentreAbu Dhabi, 17 January 2013

2. Renewable energy can be used to produce and process water • Desalination • Pumping and water distribution • Drinking water preparation • Waste water treatment • Water can be used to produce renewable energy • Irrigation for bioenergy crops • Hydropower for electricity production • Pumped hydro for electricity storage • Cooling water for thermal power plant incl CSP • Water can be stored easily, electricity not: water as solution for RE intermittency? • In parts of the world energy and water are scarce - solutions for one scarce resource should not increase scarcity for another resource Energy and Water Nexus 2

3. Thermal processes (multi stage flash 27% world capacity) and electric processes (reverse osmosis 60% world capacity) • Water desalination: approximately 0.4% of global electricity use • Much higher share where desalination is applied • In MENA region, 10 % of the national primary energy is used for desalination (World Bank, 2012) • Thermal desalination dominates in regions with high salinity such as Persian Gulf • Different optimal technologies for brackish and salt water • Use of renewable energy resources for desalination can lead to fossil energy and cost savings • So far less than 1% based on renewable energy; solar-PV is leading RE option Energy use for water processing: examples 3

4. Water as storage medium • Desalination investment cost USD 1000/m3.day • Typically one third investment; one third O&M; one third energy cost: USD 1/m3 • Assumes USD 0.06/kWh • If energy is for free but plant runs only half of time, cost are the same • If energy is for free but plant runs only 20% of time, water cost rise 133% • If energy is four times as expensive water cost double • It makes not yet economic sense to store water from solar PV desalination plant compared to large scale grid connected plant • PV with water storage and a diesel generator are roughly on par • Therefore developments focused on islands and island grids

5. Small islands in the Pacific have very limited land and water resources, which has implications for energy production and use. Managing these natural resource constraints optimally must be done in an integrated way. • Nauru: • 190 kWp solar PV system which will power 100 m3/d RO desalination plant • 1.3% of the current energy demand • Tuvalu: • 100m3/d RO desalination plant for Funafuti, as well as two 10m3/d RO mobile plants • 66 kWpsolar PV system will also be installed directly to the power grid on the island of Funafuti. • Assessment of islands with nexus issues (e.g., Tarawa (Kiribati), Funafuti (Tuvalu), Majuro(Marshall Islands)) to develop a strategy on optimizing the use of limited resources Example: solar-PV desalination in the Pacific 5

6. So far the use of renewable energy for desalination is low. R&D and technology learning can help to improve the RE technology to become competitive. • Patents provide insights regarding the innovation speed and direction. • 4,551 patent families related to desalination of water • more than 20% represent desalination with renewable energy • for 80% of these renewable energy technologies, the integration occurs with solar thermal energy • Historically, Japan has been the leading location but some German and US companies have seen increased patenting activity in the last 5 years and South Korea and China have become important locations for patent filings. Example: Patents analysis desalination with renewables *Patent landscape report developed in collaboration with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), available at http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/programs/patent_landscapes/reports/desalination.html 6

7. Patents using renewables

8. Breakdown of patents using renewables

9. Patents -most inventive countries. Office of first filing last 5 years

10. Conclusions • 80 bln m3/yrdesalination capacity worldwide in 2011 • Economies of scale favor large scale plant • Different technologies exist for smaller scale/brackish water • Reverse Osmosis is the dominant large scale technology • Approximately one third of production cost are electricity cost • Thermal processes where high salinity/biofouling is an issue • Energy efficiency of desalination is still improving rapidly and is a priority • So far less than 1% of all desalination based on renewable energy • Mainly solar PV • Main development focus on solar thermal but also other technology developments eg wave • It makes under certain conditions economic sense to store water using intermittent renewables

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