The CEO & co-founder of the Ducht start-up Brineworks, Mr. Gudfinnur Sveinsson, visited Gran Canaria to attend to several meetings with key potential partners in order to develop, test and validate their first demonstrative, here in the Canary Islands.
Brineworks’ objective is enabling decarbonised production of industrial materials and profitable atmospheric CO2 removal by valorising desalination brine. Brineworks plans to help the EU onshore the production of materials that appear on the Critical Raw Materials list created in 2023 by the European Commission.
This brine valorisation process is a perfect fit for the open testbed platform being developed by DESAL+ LIVING LAB through the SEIDI2NEW_AGUA project at ITC facilities in Pozo Izquierdo (Gran Canaria). In addition, it is similarly aligned with the work carried out by the DESAL+ LIVING LAB platform within the E5DES project, such as the full chemical characterisation of multiple SWRO brines from desalination plants throughout the Canary Islands or the design and installation of a nanofiltration plant as a pre-treatment stage in a brine valorisation process. Information collected during this work and the potential synergies with the new nanofiltration, the reverse osmosis and future pilot plants will enhance and optimise the performance of Brineworks’ solution.
The Canary Islands are a perfect location for the installation of brine valorisation systems, not only due to the abovementioned arguments, but also because of the vast amount of desalination plants operating in the archipelago and the expertise gained through the years by a large number of public and private companies and statements. Certainly, Brineworks’ visit was a neat example considering their opportunity to meet potential partners and stakeholders such as ITC water department, Elmasa, Emalsa and an environmental representative from Cabildo of Gran Canaria, all of which could certainly be potential partners to help developing Brineworks´ technological solution at a larger scale.
The E5DES project – Research and Innovation project towards Excellence in Technological Efficiency, Use of Renewable Energies, Emerging Technologies and Circular Economy in Desalination is co-funded at 85 % with ERDF funds within the framework of the MAC Program 2014-2020 (MAC2/1.1a/309).
The SEIDI2NEW_AGUA initiative (Investment in infrastructure and equipment in technological entities contributing to the development of research and development activities linked to the exploitation of insular marine resources in Pozo Izquierdo, Gran Canaria), is 100% financed by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, in accordance with the collaboration agreement of 13 November 2018 between the Cabildo of Gran Canaria and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
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