Solar and Wind-Powered Desalination Plants

In this paper, we present recent strategies for sustainable seawater desalination and energy management, especially using solar or wind renewable sources. In asddition to that, we talked about the importance of their combination to maintain constant production of energy despite the variability of atmospheric conditions. Furthermore, we present an analysis of the variation of production, consumption, economic cost, and carbon footprint in 146 desalination plants located on the Canary Islands in 2013 and 2020. Results showed that wind-powered desalination plants are more productive in terms of seawater desalination (crossing 250,000 m 3 /d compared to 3,000 m 3 /d) and require more energy than solar systems (7,000 kWh/d compared with 900 kWh/d). For the economic cost efficiency, solar-powered desalination plants are more performant (0.045 euro/m 3 compared with 3.5 euro/m 3 ). However, they produce more carbon footprint than wind systems (0.022 tCO 2 /m 3 compared to 0.02 tCO 2 /m 3 ). In terms of healthcare, desalination powered by solar or wind energy can provide a decentralized, off-grid water solution to clinics, hospitals, and emergency decentralized healthcare units that work in rural areas, reducing carbon emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels.