First Osmotic Power Plant Opens in Norway

The world’s first osmotic power plant has opened in Norway Tuesday, November 24. The plant is expected to produce clean electricity by mixing seawater and freshwater.

Osmotic power, also known as salinity gradient power, uses the concept of osmosis, as its name suggests. Freshwater are drawn through a membrane – a thin layer that retains slat but let water pass – into seawater. This will create a pressure in the seawater side high enough to drive a turbine that produces electricity. It can therefore be produced naturally in places where freshwater flows toward the sea.

What is good about the osmotic power is that it can run and produce stable power at any weather condition, unlike wind and solar energy. Also, since it does not contaminate or release CO2 emissions, the electricity generated is clean and environment friendly.

The plant was inaugurated by Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit in a former chlorine factory on the banks of the Oslo fjord situated 60 kilometers south of Oslo, the nation’s capital. European renewable energy company Statkraft runs the project.

This will be a good showcase that can be presented in the climate change summit next month in Copenhagen, the capital of neighboring, Scandinavian country of Denmark.