Technological challenge
The Canary Islands Institute of Technology and the Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria, with the financial support of the Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria (Gran Canaria Island Council), launch a Pre-Commercial public Procurement (PCP) of disruptive technology in the seawater desalination sector. This initiative, within the framework of DESAL + LIVING LAB Platform, aims to attract and provide knowledge applicable to desalination processes with remarkable international outreach. After consulting in relation of two technological challenges identified (Valorization of desalination brine and Emerging technologies on seawater desalination) a PCP is being iniatiated to acquire R&D&I services to develop solutions of emerging technologies on seawater desalination from TRL4 to a TRL7 level after the end of 2022.
Emerging technologies on seawater desalination pre-commercial public procurement – Call for tenders will be open soon
Pre-commercial public Procurement (PCP)
CALL FOR TENDERS
Procurement procedure for the provision of a “R&D service for the assessment of the feasibility, design, development and validation of a pilot seawater desalination solution with the potential to reach the threshold of 1.5 kWh/m3 of desalinated water".
The priority of this procurement is to hire R&D services from technological-base startups and companies. The services must involve the design and demonstration of highly innovative pre-commercial solutions (from a TRL4) in seawater desalination, resulting in a solution closer to the market (TRL7). These solutions must be developed in Gran Canaria. Besides, this initiative will lay the foundations to boost the development of an end-product (even though it may still be far from reaching the market) in order to favour the improvement of the industry and the increase of the knowledge-based economy in Gran Canaria.
This programme reinforces four strategic lines:
- ‣ Employment creation.
- ‣ Talent support.
- ‣ Boost of business innovation.
- ‣ Boost of internationalisation.
Therefore, this public procurement procedure is intended to support innovation in order to search for and develop pre-commercial solutions in Gran Canaria, characterised by a high market projection in the field of desalination, through the public procurement of R&D services.
The following general objectives are required:
- ‣ To reach energy consumption figures well below the consumption levels offered by the currently available desalination solutions.
- ‣ To reduce the volume of brine production.
- ‣ To reduce the consumption of chemicals used in the process.
- ‣ To be able to complete the entire process on competitive operational costs.
- ‣ To reduce the impact generated by the current desalination processes, always subject to the current or future statutory industrial, environmental and health requirements.
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In particular, the proposals aim to accomplish the following Specific Objectives:
- ‣ To achieve a solution capable of producing desalinated water (electrical conductivity below 500 uS/cm and compliance with the current and future health regulations) below 1.5kWh/m3.
- To increase the conversion of the process without efficiency risks above 50%.
- ‣ To put forward a solution that is chemical-free or that minimises the use of chemicals.
- ‣ To reduce the operational costs of industrial-scale desalination processes, reaching a cost below €0.60/m3 of desalinated water.
PHASE 0 - PRELIMINARY MARKET CONSULTATION (PMC)
PHASE 0 -PRELIMINARY MARKET CONSULTATION (PMC)
This consultation tries to identify non-commercial solutions in TRL2 that require support to move forward, through a pre-commercial public procurement on their way to becoming commercial solutions with high market projection in desalination (TRL6 or higher).
This PMC focus on innovative solutions with emerging non-commercial technologies that, through individual or hybrid solutions, allow achieving a series of competitive advantages: reducing the discharge of brine, chemical-free desalination and/or the considerable reduction of specific energy consumption; and, after agreeing to a pre-commercial public procurement, it advances in its R&D project in several phases to become a product with high potential for the market.
to know the degree of technological advances in SEAWATER DESALINATION PROCESSES.
TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES
CHALLENGE 1.- BRINE
Description: Exploitation of brine from desalination plants within the framework of the circular economy strategy: solutions and processes that allow the recovery of brine in transit to the minimum possible discharge.
Technical specifications: solutions, processes or technology that enhance the varolization of the brine discharged from seawater desalination plants and, at the same time, reduce its volumen.
These initiatives must be technologically viable, robust, applicable on a large scale, that generate added value, capable of generating benefits and that once is respectful with the environment.
The project must have as its goal the partial recovery of brine, value-added resources or generated from brine.
CHALLENGE 2.- EMERGING DESALINATION
Description: new desalination technologies, whether alternative or supplementary to reverse osmosis (SL9), including new non-commercial sub-processes or changes of the current technology that improve the energy efficiency of the desalination process.
Technical specifications: Solutions, processes or technologies are required to help to reduce the carbon footprint and volume of brine discharges from desalination plants, while reducing the consumption of chemical products in the process, most of which are discharged along with the flow. of brine. These initiatives must be technologically viable, robust, applicable on a large scale, and environmentally sustainable.
The project must be perceived as an efficient and competitive alternative or complement to reverse osmosis. So that this technology, with the necessary support, achieves different goals: minimizing the discharge of brine, chemical-free desalination, increasing energy efficiency or reducing specific energy consumption.
Can I submit several proposals to either of the two challenges of the PMC?
Yes. Several proposals can be submitted by the same physical or legal person, either individually or jointly with others.
To do so, you must submit a registration form for each proposal. The form (available at the link https://www.desalinationlab.com/desal-startatups/formulario-de-participacion-cppdesal/), will be presented together with the technical report, according to the indications of the model.
Is it possible to make an appointment with the technical team to obtain specific information about my application to this PMC?
ITC will offer information sessions in which interested parties can show their ideas and solve specific doubts. The requirements and specifications for the participants have been described in detail in the PMC bases. However, you can pose specific questions by sending an email to desal+@desalinationlab.com, indicating in the subject “DOUBT PMC DESAL+" followed by a short text that helps to identify the question.
Is there any delimitation, minimum or máximum, regarding the budget necessary to carry out the solution to the challenge?
Yes, the budget to execute all the phases of the proposed solution -concept, design, manufacture of the demonstration model- will be delimited by a minimum of € 100,000 and a maximum of € 200,000. Participating entities must take into account this figure which applies to a maximum of 3 stages of R&D development
Can a foreign entity participate as a potential future tenderer? Can proposals be submitted in English?
Yes, registration is open to researchers, entities and companies (SMEs), startups and entrepreneurs from any country.
Yes, proposals written in English and Spanish will be accepted. Applications received in a different language, other than these two, will be rejected.
What does it mean that Pre-commercial Public Procurement (PCP) is outside the Public Sector Contract Law?
The PCP that will be carried out is an R&D services contract excluded from Law 9/2017 of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts in Spain, by which the Directives of the European Parliament and of the Council 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU, of February 26, 2014, are transposed into the Spanish legal system, as regulated in the already mentioned article 8.
Research and development contracts are excluded from this law. In any case, the PCP must be sustained under its basic principles: equality, non-discrimination, publicity, transparency and competitive competition.
Spanish 
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