Techno-economic Assessment of Wind-Driven RO Desalination for Remote Communities

<p dir="ltr">Providing clean water to remote, off-grid communities is a critical global challenge. While renewable-powered desalination is a promising solution, it often relies on expensive batteries with short lifespans, limiting its sustainability. This poster was presented at the 6th International Conference on Desalination using Membrane Technology (2023).</p><p dir="ltr">This research proposes an alternative: a system that uses a <b>Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT)</b> to directly drive a reverse osmosis unit, storing energy in a <b>Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES)</b> system instead of batteries.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Key Findings:</b></p><ul><li><b>Technically Viable:</b> The VAWT-CAES configuration addresses the intermittency of wind power.</li><li><b>Economically Competitive:</b> Techno-economic modelling shows the system can produce fresh water for a levelised cost as low as <b>$1.7/m³</b>.</li><li><b>Optimised Design:</b> The most cost-effective setup uses three VAWTs and a pressure exchanger for energy recovery, balancing initial cost with long-term performance.</li></ul><p dir="ltr">This work demonstrates a more robust and affordable pathway for providing fresh water to the communities that need it most.</p>