The SDAWES project: an ambitious R&D prototype for wind-powered desalination

This paper describes the design and operational strategies of an ambitious prototype for a desalination system powered exclusively by wind energy. The system, installed on the island of Gran Canaria, was designed with several objectives in mind: (a) to determine experimentally the feasibility of the stand-alone operation of wind farms isolated from the conventional power grids and supplying energy for a number of desalination techniques (reverse osmosis, electrodialysis reversal and vacuum vaporcompression; (b) to verify the operational feasibility of the various desalination techniques when the energy source driving the system is an intermittent one; and (c) to analyze the influence that a variety of operational strategies have on the volume and quality of the desalinated water produced and on the useful working life of the main components of the desalination plants. The first of these three questions has been resolved with the feasibility of such stand-alone systems now clearly demonstrated. As for the second question, initial tests would seem so far to indicate that the reverse osmosis technique is the most suitable for use in stand-alone wind-powered desalination systems. The results that are still to come from the remaining studies will be of vital importance for regions like the Canary Islands, which suffer from a scarcity of potable water, lack conventional energy sources, but do have at their disposal wind energy resources.