Wave-Powered Freshwater Project Gets EU Grant

An innovative project using wave power to produce clean freshwater off the Canary Islands has received a €6 million grant from the European Union.

The DESALIFE (Desalination for Environmental Sustainability And LIFE) project will use offshore desalination technology developed by the Norwegian cleantech startup Ocean Oasis to provide fresh water to the local population and farmers in the northern region of Gran Canaria.

Situated off the west coast of Africa, the islands in the archipelago face severe water shortage problems, putting pressure on already depleted water resources. As such, businesses and communities on the island have become much more dependent on seawater desalination for freshwater.

The project will test and validate Ocean Oasis’ wave-powered solution, which provides desalinated water from floating buoys in deep water off the coast of Gran Canaria.

Floating desalination buoys will increase the volume of affordable and sustainable freshwater available to the local population and farmers in the north region of the island. A pilot buoy, Gaia, has already been employed to validate the technology at a site offshore the Port of Las Palmas, which was made possible by co-funding from the European Innovation Council Accelerator, Innovation Norway, and other funders.

DESALIFE’s consortium aims to have the first pre-commercial buoys producing fresh water by mid-2026.

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