French start-up scores €1.4M for salinity gradient tech

Sweetch Energy has secured €1.4 million from Go-Capital and Emertec investment funds to develop its salinity gradient power technology.

Sweetch Energy will use the funds to accelerate the development of a prototype device that would exploit the differences in salt concentration between fresh and salt water to generate electricity.

The process is known as salinity gradient power generation, suitable for deployment at deltas of rivers where fresh water mixes with salt water.

The goal of the French start-up is to transfer the results of a research in the fields of osmotic energy and nano-fluids, conducted at ENS Paris, to practical application on an industrial scale level.

Salinity power is one of the largest potential sources of renewable energy. The potential power corresponds to 2.6MW for a flow of 1 m3/sec freshwater when mixed with seawater, according to Ocean Energy Europe.

Two practical methods for electricity generation from salinity gradient are being researched: the reverse electrodialysis (RED) method and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO).