GS Engineering & Construction and Singapore Public Utilities Board Launch Joint Research to Commercialize 'Seawater Desalination Renewable Energy Technology'

SWRO-PRO Seawater Desalination Pilot Plant (Source: GS Engineering & Construction)

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] GS Engineering & Construction has entered into a joint research project to commercialize the world’s first developed ‘seawater desalination renewable energy innovation technology’ in Singapore, a global leader in advanced water treatment markets.

On the 6th, GS Engineering & Construction announced that it had launched the 'Joint Research Project for Demonstration and Commercialization of Eco-friendly Low-energy Seawater Desalination Innovation Technology' with the Singapore Public Utilities Board. This technology was successfully developed for the first time in the world by GS Engineering & Construction through a national research project funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Environment (2013?2018). It is an innovative technology that generates energy by utilizing discharge water from seawater desalination plants and wastewater reuse plants. The research period is three years, from May 2020 to April 2023.

This joint research is under exceptional conditions where the Singapore Public Utilities Board granted GS Engineering & Construction exclusive limited bidding rights and will bear most of the R&D costs over three years. This reflects the high trust and expectations in the technological capabilities possessed by GS Engineering & Construction. The joint research also involves freshwater plant company GS Inima, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Kookmin University, Korea University, and other research institutions.

The subject of the joint research is GS Engineering & Construction’s PRO (Pressure Retarded Osmosis) technology. It is a renewable energy technology that uses discharge water from water treatment facilities. The principle is to generate energy by inducing osmotic pressure using high-salinity discharge water from seawater desalination plants and low-salinity discharge water from wastewater reuse plants.

This technology is gaining attention because it can reduce electricity costs, which account for about 50% of the operating expenses of seawater desalination plants, by generating energy from discharge water, and it can also reduce environmental pollution by recycling discharge water from the plants. According to GS Engineering & Construction’s demonstration research, if this technology is commercialized, it can reduce seawater desalination electricity costs by more than 20% compared to current levels. Additionally, unlike other renewable energy sources (solar, wind, etc.), it is not affected by weather and can produce stable energy throughout the year.

In particular, Singapore currently supplies about 70% of its total water demand through seawater desalination and wastewater reuse plants due to water scarcity, and plans to increase this to 80% by 2030, making this joint research highly significant.

A GS Engineering & Construction official said, “The alternative water resource plant market will expand due to future water shortages, and companies with eco-friendly low-energy technologies will lead the market. We believe that if this technology is commercialized first in the world through joint research with Singapore, it will be a groundbreaking opportunity to expand the global water treatment market.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.