Desalination is vital for arid countries like the Kingdom of Bahrain – it now supplies 90% of Bahrain’s freshwater and accounts for a substantial fraction of the country’s energy usage. While in the short term, availability of oil and gas reserves and the concerns about depletion of these reserves and high CO2 emissions make the use of renewable energy to power seawater desalination an important area for investigation.

The main challenge facing the integration of renewable energy technologies with desalination plants is the variable power (intermittent power supply from the renewable energy systems) and availability (load and power mismatch). Currently, desalination plants are designed for constant power-input and it is important to understand how it may adversely affect the efficiency of the system, the quality of the water produced, and the lifetime and reliability of the plant.

The aim of this project is to design and optimize a renewable energy-driven reverse osmosis desalination plant that is suitable for the Kingdom of Bahrain, based on the local seawater and weather conditions. The project will be conducted in three years period, which will include joint research activities between the two universities, including, co-supervising Ph.D. students and join symposiums in the field of desalination and renewable energy.