Desalination Plants

General Information

North Sea

Baltic Sea

Clyde Marine Region

Adriatic Sea

Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Desalination Plants

Layer Info
Category	Management
Sub-category	Governance
Editable	No

Description

Desalination plants are essential facilities that convert seawater or brackish water into freshwater, making it suitable for drinking, agriculture, and industrial use. They employ two main methods: thermal desalination, which involves heating water to produce vapor that is then condensed into freshwater, and membrane desalination, where seawater is forced through semi-permeable membranes to separate salts. These plants are particularly vital in arid regions and islands where freshwater resources are limited.

Despite their importance, desalination plants face significant challenges. The process is energy-intensive, often relying on fossil fuels, which can be costly and environmentally harmful. Additionally, the production of brine, a concentrated salt byproduct, poses environmental risks if not properly managed. However, advancements in technology, such as solar-powered desalination and improved membrane materials, offer promising solutions to make desalination more efficient and sustainable.

MSP Challenge

Players can only view the data as this is not an editable layer.

Not applicable. This layer is not yet available in the MSP Challenge North Sea Edition.

Not applicable. This layer is not yet available in the MSP Challenge Baltic Sea Edition.

Not applicable. This layer is not yet available in the MSP Challenge Clyde Marine Region Edition.

Not applicable. This layer is not yet available in the MSP Challenge Adriatic Sea Edition.

Types

Not applicable.

Metadata

Data Source

EMODnet

No limitations on public access

Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This data was downloaded from the EMODnet Portal (https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/). The data originator is Cogea Srl.

Original Title

"EMODnet_HA_Desalination_Plants_20210830"

Description

"The database on Desalination plants in the EU was created in 2021 by Cogea srl for the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). It is the result of the harmonization of a dataset provided by GWI DesalData. The dataset provides spatial information (point) on the centroid of the municipality where a given plant is located. It is available for viewing and download on EMODnet - Human Activities web portal (www.emodnet-humanactivities.eu) and will be updated every year. The dataset covers the following countries: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, Ukraine. Where available, each point has the following attributes: site code (ID), Location Name, Country, Position Source, Commune Name, NUTS code (NUTS 3 ID), Latitude, Longitude. A relational table provides further information for each desalination plant where data are available: Location Type, Project, Capacity (m3/d), Size, Units, Unit Size (m3/d), Technology, Feedwater, Plant Type, Award Date, Online Date, Plant Status, Customer Type, Industry Type, Customer, Holding Company, Plant Owner. More plant-specific information is available in the original dataset."

Methodology

Using the layer through web feature service.