November 28, 2022: Plans to use marine energy to desalinate water are getting a further boost this week following a Norwegian company presented a system that puts through its speeds in waters off Gran Canaria.

On Monday, Oslo-headquartered Ocean Oasis stated that its wave-powered prototype device, which it described as an “offshore floating desalination plant,” was Gaia.

The plant, which has 10 meters in height, has a diameter of 7 meters and weighs almost 100 tons, was made in Las Palmas and will undergo tests at the Oceanic Platform of the Canary areas.

Ocean Oasis added that its technology would make it receive “the production of fresh water from the ocean that harness the energy of the waves to take out a desalination method and pump potable water to coastal users.”

The company said its prototype development had received financial backing from various organisations, including Innovation Norway and the Gran Canaria Economic Promotion Society.

The leading investor in Ocean Oasis is Grieg Maritime Group, headquartered in Bergen, Norway.

The Canary Islands are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean from Spain. The Canary Islands Institute of Technology stated that the islands have been “pioneers in producing desalinated water at affordable cost.”

A presentation from the ITC highlights a few of the reasons why. The Canary Islands’ “water singularities” refers to a “structural water deficit because of the rainfall, high soil permeability and aquifer overexploitation.”

While desalination, which multinationals exuberance company Iberdrola stated as “the process by which the mineral salts in water are removed”, is seen as a valuable tool when providing drinking water to countries supplying an issue, the U.N. has noted there are huge environmental challenges linked to it.