Patent Landscape Report on Desalination Technologies and the Use of Alternative Energies for Desalination

Desalination has become one of the most important sources of water supply in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and some island countries. A rapid growth of desalination is foreseen worldwide. Conventional desalination systems require a considerable amount of energy, to the extent that desalination can represent a significant share in total national or island energy consumption. Using locally available renewable energy resources for desalination can lead to significant fossil energy and cost savings, particularly in remote coastal or island locations where fresh water infrastructure and electricity transmission and distribution pose limitations.

So far the use of renewable energy for desalination is low. R&D and technology learning can help to improve the RE technology to become competitive. Patents provide insights regarding the innovation speed and direction.

A patent landscape report was prepared by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in collaboration with IRENA and with participation of the Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health (GIWEH) on desalination technologies powered by renewable energy sources.

The report is intended to provide the latest overview of patenting activity and innovation in the area of desalination powered by renewable energies in order to support policy makers and investors in their assessment of technology solutions for renewable energy deployment.

The report identified 4,551 patent families that claim inventions related to desalination of water covering both complete systems and components or details of systems adapted to desalination. More than 20% represent desalination technologies that integrate the use of renewable energy. For 80% of these renewable energy technologies, the integration occurs with solar thermal energy followed by solar PV, wind energy, wave energy, and geothermal energy.

The analysis of the geographical distribution of the patenting activity in the report showed that the patent landscape in desalination technologies has been changing. Historically, Japan has been the leading location for patent filings in this technology field but some German and US companies have seen increased patenting activity in the last 5 years and South Korea and China have become important locations for patent filings.

With the rapid decrease of renewable energy costs, technical advances, and increasing number of installations, renewable energy desalination technologies are expected to reduce their cost in the near future and become an important source of water supply for regions affected by water scarcity.

The complete report and the database of patent families assessed are available through the WIPO website below.

The Water-Energy Nexus from a renewable energy perspective

http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/programs/patent_landscapes/reports/desalination.html