The initiative focuses on developing innovative desalination and water treatment technologies through the integration of renewable energy sources.
On 28–29 January 2026, the Canary Islands Institute of Technology (ITC) hosted the General Assembly of the European project AQUASOL in Gran Canaria. The meeting brought together partners from across Europe — including research centres, universities and companies from Spain, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Greece and Denmark — to review project progress, coordinate ongoing tasks and define the next steps toward integrating technological solutions into a real validation environment.
Within this framework, ITC contributes its DESAL+ Living Lab infrastructure, an experimental platform for testing desalination prototypes located in Pozo Izquierdo (Gran Canaria), where the AQUASOL pilot system will be deployed. During the two-day session, consortium members addressed key aspects of the pilot system design, analysing technical, economic and social components associated with its implementation. Particular attention was given to innovation integration requirements and the system’s expected impact in terms of efficiency, sustainability and scalability.
The event also included participation from a representative of the European project ZERODESOL, which focuses on solar-powered desalination and zero-liquid-discharge water reuse solutions. This exchange opened opportunities for technical dialogue and potential synergies between projects working in related fields.
As part of the agenda, consortium members visited the DESAL+ Living Lab facilities to gain first-hand insight into ITC’s technological capabilities in energy transition and desalination. The visit highlighted the potential of this infrastructure to accelerate innovation and enable validation of advanced water solutions under real operating conditions.
DESAL+ Living Lab: A centre of excellence for desalination innovation
DESAL+ Living Lab is a leading applied research platform in seawater desalination, designed to accelerate innovation and technology transfer to the water sector in the Canary Islands. It operates as a public–private ecosystem led by ITC and supported by the Government of the Canary Islands, integrating strategic infrastructure, specialised expertise and highly qualified technical and research teams.
Among its key assets is the experimental site in Pozo Izquierdo, which offers dedicated test benches for brine valorisation and hosts the DESALRO 2.0 desalination pilot plant — recognised with a Guinness World Record for achieving the lowest energy consumption worldwide in reverse osmosis — along with additional facilities for testing and validating advanced water treatment technologies and processes.
English