World's First Osmotic Power Plant Prototype to Begin Operations

GALWAY, IRELAND--November 10, 2009--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The world's first osmotic power plant is scheduled to begin operations just outside Oslo, in Tofte, Norway, at the end of this month. Although at this stage, the plant is only a prototype with limited production capabilities, a commercially viable unit could exist within a few years, possibly as soon as 2015. Norwegian state-owned electricity company Statkraft AS (Oslo) developed the prototype plant with the help of backing from Enova SF (Trondheim, Norway). The basic principle of an osmotic power plant is based on the natural process known as osmosis, which is the transport of water through a semi-permeable membrane, in this case separating seawater from fresh water.