Sustainable freshwater supply in New Caledonia through solar desalination
An article from the Dutch Water Sector.
Dutch organization Elemental Water Makers and partners have established an energy-efficient desalination solution that provides a clean and reliable freshwater supply to two New Caledonian municipalities, La Foa and Taanlo. With this green desalination solution, municipalities now have a chemical-free water purification process that requires 70% less electricity and produces 44 cubic meters of freshwater per day.
New Caledonia, a French territory made up of dozens of islands in the South Pacific, is known for its palm-fringed beaches and a lagoon rich in marine life. Despite being surrounded by water, the availability of water resources is a growing problem in New Caledonia and one of the top priorities of the country’s water-sharing policy.
The supply, distribution and management of water are the responsibility of the municipal authorities of New Caledonia, which can choose to keep this service to consumers under the control of the local government, or decide to call on a specialized company with which they enter into a contract in which the task of providing the water is delegated. The municipalities of La Foa and Taanlo opted for the latter and, after a tender procedure, trusted Elemental Water Makers (EWM), a Dutch organization, and their local partners to set up a clean water supply using efficient solar desalination.
Off-grid seawater desalination.
Their request was clear: a proven, total solution to convert seawater into clean water off-grid on a relatively small scale. As EWM CEO Sid Vollebregt recalls: “The energy efficiency and environmentally friendly approach were important to the municipalities, which led to the lowest overall operating costs.”
These projects were commissioned in late 2022. After the municipalities released the official documentation and gave the official confirmation, EWM and their partners started the process by confirming the exact layout on site, resulting in a final system design and production of the equipment. While local New Caledonian partners took the lead in the civil works and contributed to the local operation and support, EWM delivered two off-grid solar seawater desalination solutions to ensure sufficient clean water. “The cooperation with the partners was excellent and the landscape was pristine,” adds Vollebregt.
Minimizing the negative impact on the environment.
EWM’s desalination solution has several advantages. By using only solar energy, there are no fossil fuels involved in the normally fossil-intensive desalination industry. Furthermore, EWM’s energy-efficient desalination solution uses 70% less electricity and produces 44 cubic meters of fresh water per day. The entire water treatment process has been redesigned so that no chemicals are needed to operate and maintain the unit. And finally, the salt concentration in the saltwater stream leaving the process is minimized to prevent negative impacts on the environment. This will help municipalities secure their water supplies for generations to come.
As New Caledonia has even more rural communities that lack access to clean water, EWM and their partners expect to repeat their efforts and increase access to fresh water from just the sea and the sun. According to Vollebregt, “the entire Pacific region is facing similar challenges, and it is useful to have completed projects that can be presented in the portfolio. Elemental believes that all Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which are at the forefront of climate change, will need to better adapt to decreasing rainfall, and we are confident that using just the sea and the sun in an affordable way will lead to an expansion of their order book.”