The President of the Canary Islands, Mr. Fernando Clavijo Batlle, officially signed yesterday the declaration recognizing DesaLIFE as a strategic project for the Canary Islands, alongside 18 other initiatives.
The project was classified by the Directorate-General for Organic Coordination and Strategic Projects of the Canary Islands Government as a “highly innovative and sustainable project, with strong strategic alignment and proven technical feasibility.”
DesaLIFE’s strategic designation is based on its direct contribution to the priority areas of the Canary Islands Government: sustainability, blue economy, energy, health and well-being, vocational training, and emerging industries. The project is aligned with the Canary Islands 2030 Agenda and the Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3 Extended), promoting decarbonization, energy efficiency, water resource protection, and technology transfer. In this way, DesaLIFE consolidates its position as a key initiative in offshore desalination and the blue economy for the region.
The project is being developed by a consortium led by Ocean Oasis, with participation from the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC), the Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias (PLOCAN), the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), elittoral – Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Studies, and the Island Water Council of Gran Canaria (CIAGC). It has an approximate budget of €10 million, of which €5.9 million are co-financed by the LIFE Programme of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) under the Circular Economy and Quality of Life subprogramme.
Innovation, sustainability, and local industry
DesaLIFE represents a decisive step towards a new generation of sustainable desalination plants, integrating wave energy as the primary source for freshwater production, completely eliminating electricity consumption and CO₂ emissions. The project will validate and deploy the Ocean Oasis technology, contributing to water self-sufficiency in the Canary Islands and fostering local industrial capacity linked to the blue economy.
The system is based on floating buoys that use wave motion to power seawater through reverse osmosis membranes, with no electrical grid connection or fossil fuels. The fresh water produced offshore is then transported to land via flexible pipelines, integrating into the islands’ desalination infrastructure.
This system was previously validated under the ReWater project, developed by Ocean Oasis within the EU’s EIC Accelerator programme, and will enable the production of an average of 2,000 m³/day of fresh water, equivalent to the daily consumption of around 15,000 people.
Next steps
The consortium is now advancing toward the industrial implementation phase of this wave-powered desalination technology, reinforcing cooperation with local stakeholders and international dissemination of results to maximize the project’s positive impact in the Canary Islands and other island territories.
One major milestone will be the local construction of the first full-scale unit, named Theia, at the Port of Las Palmas. Theia will be entirely manufactured in the Canary Islands, validating Ocean Oasis’s solution and paving the way for replicability and international deployment, positioning the archipelago as a global benchmark in sustainable desalination and the blue economy.
The “Strategic for the Canary Islands” designation grants priority administrative processing, shortened approval timelines, and specialized advisory services for access to funding and expert support during development.
Connection to DESAL+ LIVING LAB
DesaLIFE is closely linked to the DESAL+ LIVING LAB platform — an open innovation ecosystem led by the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias that promotes R&D, testing, and demonstration of desalination and water reuse technologies in real operational environments.
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