Denmark, 2023
Nobian has started a pilot project with SaltPower™ and Dansk Salt at SaltPower’s salt mining field in Hvornum, Denmark. The plant, the first of its kind in the world with a capacity of 100 kW, started operating in 2023. This follows a successful test of a prototype at the factory in Mariager in 2021.
By applying SaltPower to the solution mining process, we can reduce energy demand by injecting diluted salt water back into the cavern. In this way, SaltPower technology can replace the high-pressure pump normally used in solution mining. We hope this technology will eventually make the operation of the brine field energy neutral.
SaltPower produces energy by using the osmotic pressure difference between fresh water and salt brine. The concentrated brine draws fresh water through a semi-permeable membrane, causing an increase in pressure. The high-pressure diluted brine can then be used to produce electricity in a turbine or directly as hydraulic energy.
The salt concentration in brine is about eight times higher than in seawater. As a result, the economics of the process are much better compared to the case where seawater is used to create the osmotic pressure to produce electricity.