Sweetch Energy and Rockwell Automation Optimize Unique Zero-Carbon Electricity Generation Technology
June 25, 2024 at 04:08 pm
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French renewables startup Sweetch Energy will rely on extensive domain expertise and global presence from Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) to help scale its osmotic power generation technology.
Osmotic energy is naturally generated by the difference in salinity between freshwater and seawater. The INOD® (Ionic Nano Osmotic Diffusion) technology developed by Sweetch Energy is the first technology of its kind to be marketed on an industrial scale.
Using Rockwell's turnkey process control platform and visualization technology, Sweetch Energy will optimize its unique zero-carbon electricity generation technology in its first osmotic demonstrator plant at the Barcarin lock in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone, France. The company plans to deploy several osmotic stations at the mouth of the Rhone to harness natural osmotic energy. These stations will represent up to 500 MW of carbon-free electricity production capacity, capable of supplying more than 1.5 million people - the equivalent to the population of cities such as Marseille and its surrounding areas, Barcelona, Amsterdam, or Montreal.
Manufactured using environmentally friendly bio-sourced materials, the osmotic generators can be located at any estuary or delta. Water is the only input in the process and is fully returned to the river mouth, with no chemical waste or pollutants created. And, unlike other renewables, it is not dependent on weather conditions and can produce clean electricity continuously.
Rockwell technologies will be used to automate, control, and monitor the system as well as optimize the process and power-generation efficiency. The technology to be deployed at the pilot plant is also highly scalable, allowing Sweetch Energy to create standardized, modular, with worldwide support for installations of any size, anywhere.
Learn more about Rockwell's sustainably advantaged solutions.
Rockwell Automation, Inc. is one of the world's largest companies that specialize in the manufacturing and marketing of automation and industrial infrastructure control systems. The products are primarily intended for the food processing, automotive, mining, oil, and gas industries. Net sales break down by family of products and services as follows:
- automation and control devices (45.2%): drive systems, variable frequency drives, motor controls, servo drives, servomotors, actuators, microcontrollers, safety, detection, protection systems, etc.;
- automation solutions and systems (31.9%): automation software and hardware platforms, design, visualization, simulation and execution software, human-machine interface devices, industrial computers, computer networks, etc.;
- professional services and value-added solutions (22.9%): consulting, training and maintenance services, on-site and remote assistance, cloud-based connected services, digital automation solutions for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, etc.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: North America (57.7%), Europe/Middle East/Africa (20.7%), Asia/Pacific (15%) and Latin America (6.6%).