Saltwater Power Could Supply Energy for Most Dutch Homes

A new proposal to improve a 75-year-old dike, the Afsluitdijk, in The Netherlands could make it the world’s leading site for generating saltwater power— a clean, renewable energy source which is 30-40% more efficient than burning coal.

The breakthrough process, which is called reverse electrodialysis, captures the energy created when freshwater becomes saltier by mixing with seawater. Although scientists in the 1950s discovered that electricity could be generated this way, no one knew just how efficient the process could be until a recent study proved that a remarkable 80% of the energy could be recovered.

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Just as it takes huge amounts of energy to desalinate water, energy is generated when the reverse happens, and saltwater is added to freshwater. Unlike hydroelectricity, where the energy from a surging river is evident to anyone sitting at its banks, the energy released at an estuary can’t be easily seen. Nevertheless, that power is there. If the proposed saltwater power plant is built on the Afsluitdijk, it could produce 300 megawatts of electricity. That could supply a large part of the electrical demand for homes in the northern parts of The Netherlands.

The Afsluitdijk is a 20-mile-long causeway which was constructed in part to dam off the Zuiderzee inlet of the North Sea, turning it into the massive freshwater lake of the IJsselmeer. The lake is periodically discharged since it is continually being fed by rivers and streams, which makes it an ideal location for the saltwater power plant.

The Netherlands is a country fighting for its life due to rising sea levels brought on by global warming. Most of the country is already below sea level, and studies have shown that as much as 65% of its land would already be submerged if not for their sophisticated flood control system. The system includes more than 10,000 miles of dikes and dams, as well as an elaborate structure of water pumps symbolized by the country’s iconic windmills.

Those symbols now represent the country’s dire need for a carbon-neutral world powered by renewable energy.

Image Credit: Johann H. Addicks on Wiki Commons under the GNU Free Documentation License

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