Saltwater Revolution: How Osmotic Power Could Be the Next Big Clean Energy Source

• Turning Salt & Fresh Water Into Electricity: Osmotic power (also known as “blue energy”) generates renewable electricity by mixing freshwater with saltwater across a membrane earth.org. This exploits natural osmosis to produce power continuously, day and night.
• 24/7 Clean Energy, Rain or Shine: Unlike solar panels or wind turbines, osmotic power runs around the clock – it isn’t affected by weather or daylight theguardian.com. As one expert puts it, “Osmotic power is clean, completely natural, available 24 hours a day in all coastal areas” theinnovator.news, offering a reliable baseload energy source with zero carbon emissions balkangreenenergynews.com.
• Two Ways to Tap “Blue Energy”: Osmotic power plants typically use one of two methods. Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) uses a semi-permeable membrane and a turbine theguardian.com, while Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) uses ion-exchange membranes to create an electrical current directly theinnovator.news. Both technologies harness salinity gradients – the energy released when fresh and salt water mix.
• Recent Breakthroughs Boost Feasibility: Advances in nanomaterials and membrane design have dramatically improved performance and cost. A French startup’s nano-engineered membrane achieves 20–25 Watts per square meter earth.org – a 20× jump over earlier tech – and aims to cut membrane costs by an order of magnitude earth.org. Better membranes and efficient pumps are overcoming past losses from pumping friction renewableinstitute.org renewableinstitute.org, pushing osmotic power closer to commercial viability.
• From Pilot to Reality (2023–2025): The world’s first osmotic power plant went live in 2023 at a Danish salt factory, producing ~100 kW using concentrated brine toyobo-global.com. In 2025, Japan opened its first osmotic plant in Fukuoka – only the second of its kind – generating ~880,000 kWh/year (enough for ~220 homes) to help run a local desalination facility theguardian.com balkangreenenergynews.com. These milestone projects prove the concept at scale, providing steady power with minimal environmental impact.
• Huge Untapped Energy Potential: Every river that meets the sea is a source of blue energy. Studies estimate osmotic power could technically supply 10–20% of global electricity if fully harnessed earth.org theinnovator.news. In practice, even tapping a fraction of this potential would mean hundreds of gigawatts of clean, always-on capacity. World Economic Forum experts called osmotic energy one of 2025’s top emerging technologies poised to transform the energy landscape theinnovator.news.
• Challenges Remain, but Shrinking: Osmotic power faces hurdles like membrane fouling, high upfront costs, and energy lost to pumping renewableinstitute.org. Early attempts (e.g. Statkraft’s 2009 pilot in Norway) struggled with low output and were deemed uneconomical earth.org. Today, however, smarter designs and better materials are rapidly reducing these inefficiencies renewableinstitute.org. With continued R&D and supportive policies, experts say there are “relatively few hurdles to wide adoption once sufficient investments are made” in osmotic power systems theinnovator.news.

What Is Osmotic Power and How Does It Work?

Osmotic power (or salinity gradient energy) is electricity generated from the natural process of osmosis – the movement of water across a membrane from a dilute solution to a salty solution theguardian.com. At river deltas where freshwater meets the ocean, immense chemical energy is continuously released as the two mix. Osmotic power plants capture a portion of this energy by separating fresh and salt water with special membranes in a controlled setting theguardian.com. The concept has been studied since at least the 1970s, but only in recent years have technological advances started to make it feasible at scale earth.org earth.org.

To visualize the process, imagine a tank divided by a semi-permeable membrane. Freshwater on one side and seawater on the other side naturally try to equalize salinity. Water flows toward the saltier side through the membrane theguardian.com. This flow can be harnessed in two main ways:

Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO)

In pressure retarded osmosis, a water-permeable membrane (impermeable to salt) separates freshwater from pressurized saltwater theguardian.com. As freshwater osmotically diffuses into the saltwater side, it causes the volume and pressure on that side to increase. Essentially, the freshwater is “pulled” into the salty water, creating hydraulic pressure. That pressurized mixture is then released through a turbine, much like in a small hydroelectric dam, to spin a generator and produce electricity theguardian.com theguardian.com.

The term “pressure retarded” refers to the fact that the saltwater side is maintained at elevated pressure, which retards (slows) the flow of water; this allows pressure to build up. The technique was pioneered in the 1970s and ‘80s by Prof. Sidney Loeb and others, and later tested by companies like Statkraft. In practice, the effectiveness of PRO depends on membrane performance and maintaining optimal pressure. The Fukuoka osmotic plant in Japan uses a PRO-style setup: fresh river water (or treated wastewater) and seawater are fed on either side of an FO (forward osmosis) membrane, with the seawater side pressurized. As osmosis draws water in, the increased pressure drives water through a turbine, generating power theguardian.com theguardian.com. This design benefits from using concentrated seawater (desalination brine) to amplify the salinity difference and energy yield theguardian.com.

Reverse Electrodialysis (RED)

Another approach, reverse electrodialysis, directly generates electrical current from salt ion movement. RED stacks alternating cation and anion exchange membranes, creating multiple cells where ions (Na⁺, Cl⁻, etc.) migrate from the salty side to the fresh side theinnovator.news. In each cell, this ionic movement produces an electrical potential. By connecting many membranes in series (like a battery stack), a usable voltage is produced theinnovator.news theinnovator.news. In simple terms, RED doesn’t use a turbine at all – it converts the chemical potential difference into electricity via electrochemical cells.

The Netherlands has been a leader in RED research. A notable pilot plant on the Afsluitdijk dam demonstrated a 50 kW RED system in 2015 redstack.nl. There, freshwater from Lake IJssel and saltwater from the Wadden Sea flowed through a stack of hundreds of membranes, continuously generating power redstack.nl. RED technology tends to have lower power density per membrane area than PRO, but it can be advantageous in certain conditions and can potentially be combined with resource recovery (e.g. extracting useful salts or even lithium during the process) theinnovator.news. Researchers continue to improve ion-selective membranes and reduce resistance in RED stacks.

Which is better? PRO and RED each have pros and cons. PRO can achieve higher instantaneous power densities using high-pressure turbines, especially if very salty brine is available toyobo-global.com. RED offers more direct conversion and modularity, and may operate efficiently on lower salinity differences. Both approaches are being pursued, and some hybrid concepts even consider using PRO to pressurize water and then RED to capture remaining ionic energy. The choice often depends on the specific site and application. Importantly, both methods are emissions-free and rely only on the endless natural mixing of river water and seawater.

Key Benefits of Osmotic Power

1. Continuous, Reliable Renewable Energy: Osmotic power is available 24/7 as long as freshwater flows into saltwater. It’s effectively a form of baseload renewable energy. This is a major advantage over solar or wind, which are intermittent. For example, Japan’s new osmotic plant is touted as “a next-generation renewable energy source that is not affected by weather or time of day” and can provide a steady output for critical infrastructure balkangreenenergynews.com. In other words, rivers don’t stop flowing at night or when the wind is still – making osmotic plants a predictable power source year-round.

2. Zero Emissions and Minimal Footprint: The process produces no greenhouse gases or air pollution. It’s simply mixing water and harnessing the energy released. Aside from the physical plant equipment, there are no fuel inputs and no combustion. A municipal water agency in Fukuoka highlighted that osmotic generation “emits no carbon dioxide” in operation balkangreenenergynews.com. The only byproduct is slightly less salty water, which is typically returned to the sea or estuary. Environmental studies show osmotic plants have a small geographic footprint and can often be built at existing sites like dam outflows or desalination plants eiffel-ig.com rockwellautomation.com.

3. Abundant Resource: Salt and fresh water are widespread globally. It’s said we will run out of oil long before we run out of saltwater and river water. Every coastline with river estuaries is a potential site. The global energy obtainable from all river mouths is enormous – on the order of 2.6 terawatts (TW) continuously (over 20,000 TWh/year) by some estimates theinnovator.news. Tapping even a fraction of this could power millions of homes. In practice, osmotic plants could be deployed wherever a river meets the ocean or anywhere there’s a saline water source adjacent to fresher water (including man-made setups with brines).

4. Complements Water Management: Uniquely, osmotic power can pair with water infrastructure. For instance, the Fukuoka plant piggybacks on a desalination facility, using the brine output for energy generation theguardian.com. Likewise, Danish company SaltPower uses salty geothermal brine from underground salt deposits to produce electricity toyobo-global.com. These approaches treat water waste streams as an energy resource, in a circular economy fashion. Experts note osmotic technology can integrate energy production with desalination and wastewater treatment, providing fresh water and power together theinnovator.news theinnovator.news. A futurist vision even imagines desalination plants turning into “multi-purpose resource generators” that simultaneously produce clean water, energy, and minerals (like lithium) from one process theinnovator.news theinnovator.news.

5. Low Ecological Impact: Early indications are that osmotic energy can be harnessed without significant harm to ecosystems. Since it doesn’t involve large dams or combustion, it avoids many typical environmental costs. Water is returned to its source after passing through the system, with only a moderate change in salinity. A 2025 pilot in France returns all water to the Rhône delta “with minimal ecological impact,” though further studies will monitor long-term effects on salinity levels locally earth.org. The land use is small – often just a building by the river or coast. There is no visual blight like wind turbines or large reservoirs. As with any water intake, care is needed to avoid trapping aquatic organisms, but intake systems can be designed similar to those used in hydro or desalination plants to mitigate this.

6. Energy Security & Modularity: Osmotic plants could bolster energy security for coastal and riverside communities. They produce local power and could reduce reliance on imported fuels. Because many parts of the world have suitable sites (rivers, estuaries, even salt lakes), countries can develop indigenous renewable capacity. Moreover, osmotic systems can be built in modular units – adding membrane modules to increase capacity – making it scalable from small 50 kW installations up to potential multi-megawatt farms over time rockwellautomation.com rockwellautomation.com. This modular nature allows gradual scaling and redundancy.

Limitations and Challenges

Despite its promise, osmotic power has faced several challenges that historically limited its viability:

1. Efficiency and Net Energy Yield: The biggest challenge is getting a net positive energy output after accounting for losses. Pumping large volumes of water into the plant and through membranes consumes energy. Friction in pipes and membranes also dissipates some of the potential energy. In fact, a lot of the theoretical energy from mixing can be lost to these practical inefficiencies. “Much of that potential is offset by the energy needed to push the two streams into the plant and the frictional losses across the membranes. As a result, the net gain is relatively small,” explains Prof. Sandra Kentish, a chemical engineer researching osmotic power renewableinstitute.org. Early prototypes often found the net electrical output was minimal once pumps were powered and membranes fouled, etc. This is why advancing efficiency is crucial – and it’s happening with better pumps and membranes (Kentish notes these improvements are reducing the losses renewableinstitute.org).

2. Membrane Performance and Cost: The heart of osmotic tech is the membrane. It must be highly selective (let water or certain ions through, but not mix everything at once) and durable under continuous flow and pressure. Initial membranes had low flux (water transfer rate) and/or allowed too much salt leakage, giving low power density. They also were expensive and prone to fouling (clogging by particles or biological growth). This made early osmotic energy prohibitively expensive – one analysis noted it was dozens of times costlier per kWh than conventional power in the early 2010s researchgate.net. Today’s R&D is laser-focused on membranes: developing nanostructured materials that dramatically increase flow and power output while using cheaper, resilient materials earth.org theinnovator.news. (We’ll discuss these advancements in the next section.) Still, scaling up production of these advanced membranes at low cost is an ongoing challenge.

3. Location Constraints: Osmotic power requires a source of low-salinity water and high-salinity water in proximity. Not every site is suitable – you ideally need a large flow of freshwater and easy access to seawater (or a salt lake or brine source). Estuaries are natural choices, but many are ecologically sensitive areas (wetlands, deltas) where development is cautious. Using existing industrial sites (like desalination plants or salt mines) can circumvent some location issues. But generally, the energy available scales with the volume of water mixed and the salinity difference. Small rivers or less salty seas yield less energy. Seasonal variations in river flow might also affect output unless managed.

4. Environmental and Permitting Challenges: While osmotic power is relatively gentle on the environment, it still involves large water intakes and outflows. Permits are needed to draw freshwater and discharge altered salinity water. Environmental assessments must ensure marine life won’t be harmed by intake pipes or changes in local salinity. If a plant returned a large quantity of brackish water into a sensitive estuary, it could, in theory, affect local ecosystems (e.g. species that are sensitive to salinity changes). So far, pilot projects have operated without significant incident, but scaling up will require careful environmental management and regulatory approval. Agencies will likely treat osmotic plants similarly to other water infrastructure in terms of requiring fish screens, monitoring, etc.

5. Competing Uses of Water: Freshwater is valuable for drinking, irrigation, and ecosystems. There could be concerns about devoting freshwater for energy production in water-scarce regions. Most osmotic systems return the water to the source, but during operation that freshwater becomes mixed with saltwater. In some setups (like using wastewater effluent or desal brine), this is less of a concern because it’s water that would otherwise be discarded. In river delta installations, operators will need to coordinate with water management authorities to ensure they aren’t impacting water availability downstream. However, relative to the total flow of a large river, an osmotic plant would typically use a small portion of water at the mouth.

6. Early Stage of Development: Osmotic power is still in early days of commercialization. Only a handful of pilot or demonstration plants exist as of 2025. This means there is limited real-world data on long-term operation, maintenance costs, and performance at scale. Investors may be cautious until more plants run successfully. The lack of a track record also means financing for large projects can be harder to secure, and insurers or regulators might require extra proof of safety/reliability. Essentially, osmotic power is where wind and solar were perhaps in the 1980s or early 90s – scientifically proven, small pilots built, but needing further scaling and cost reduction to compete widely.

Despite these challenges, the trajectory is clearly improving. Membrane efficiencies are rising, more pilot plants are coming online, and lessons from these prototypes are guiding better designs. Each successful project (like the ones in Denmark and Japan) builds confidence and knowledge to tackle the limitations.

Recent Technological Advancements and Ongoing Research

In the past decade, breakthrough innovations have started to unlock osmotic power’s potential. Much of this progress centers on materials science – namely, creating high-performance membranes – as well as smarter system designs. Here are some key advancements and research highlights:

● Nanotechnology and Advanced Membranes: Traditional ion-exchange or osmotic membranes suffered from a trade-off: they needed extremely tiny pores to block salt ions (on the order of nanometers or smaller), but such tight pores greatly slowed water flow, requiring huge membrane area to get useful power theinnovator.news. A new wave of research uses nanostructured materials to overcome this. For example, a French team led by Lydéric Bocquet at CNRS pioneered a nanofluidic approach: using tiny carbon nanotubes and nanoporous materials that allow very fast water transport while still blocking salt effectively theinnovator.news theinnovator.news.

This work led to Ionic Nano Osmotic Diffusion (INOD) membranes – essentially with pore structures ~10 nanometers (100× larger than older ion-selective pores, yet engineered for optimal ion exclusion) earth.org theinnovator.news. Sweetch Energy, a startup co-founded by Bocquet’s collaborators, developed these membranes from natural, bio-sourced materials that are cheap and scalable earth.org theinnovator.news. The result is a membrane achieving record-high power density (~20–25 W/m²) in lab tests earth.org. For comparison, previous PRO membranes delivered around 1 W/m² earth.org. This is a game-changing improvement – confirmed in early 2024 when Sweetch began operating a pilot using these INOD membranes in the Rhône River delta.

● Cost Reduction through Materials: Beyond performance, cost is crucial. Sweetch’s INOD membrane uses abundant biomaterials (details proprietary, but likely cellulose or other polymer composites) instead of exotic, expensive polymers earth.org. They estimate membrane material costs could drop to one-tenth of current membranes earth.org. Lower-cost membranes mean osmotic power could become economically competitive much faster. Similarly, companies like Toyobo in Japan have developed robust hollow-fiber membranes leveraging their desalination tech, but optimized for forward osmosis. Toyobo’s membranes, used in the SaltPower plant, are designed to handle high pressures and allow uniform flow through densely packed fibers toyobo-global.com toyobo-global.com. They adapted proven reverse-osmosis (RO) membrane chemistry to osmotic systems, improving durability under the pressurized conditions of PRO toyobo-global.com.

Researchers worldwide are exploring next-gen materials: from nano-engineered polymers to graphene-oxide membranes and beyond theinnovator.news. In the lab, exotic 2D materials and nanotube arrays have shown incredible water transport rates. The challenge is translating these to industrially manufacturable membranes. Progress is steady – multiple academic groups (in the U.S., China, Europe) have demonstrated improved membrane prototypes in recent years theinnovator.news theinnovator.news.

● Pump and Energy Recovery Tech: One might not think pumps are exciting, but efficient pumping and energy recovery devices are vital for osmotic power. Any energy used to move water around reduces net output. Advances in pump design (many borrowed from desalination plants) have improved the situation. For instance, Danfoss developed high-pressure pumps and an isobaric energy recovery device (“iSave”) that SaltPower uses to recirculate pressure energy in their PRO system saltpower.net saltpower.net. By reclaiming pressure from the outflow and using it to pre-pressurize incoming streams, modern osmotic plants can significantly cut the parasitic energy losses. Research into optimal fluid dynamics within membrane modules (reducing friction, avoiding stagnant zones that cause fouling) also boosts overall efficiency redstack.nl redstack.nl. Engineers have experimented with module designs like crossflow configurations that create turbulence along membranes to enhance mixing and prevent buildup of salt layers that impede performance redstack.nl.

● Hybrid Systems and New Applications: Scientists are looking at creative ways to integrate osmotic power with other processes. One area is PRO + Desalination hybrids. A concept is to use PRO between seawater and the concentrated brine reject of a reverse-osmosis desal plant, to generate energy and simultaneously dilute the brine. This reduces the desal plant’s overall energy use and environmental impact of brine discharge. Such a pilot was conducted in South Korea, indicating it can work in tandem with seawater RO sciencedirect.com. Another application: using osmotic power during the creation of salt-cavern reservoirs. When solution mining salt caverns (for storing natural gas or hydrogen), you pump freshwater underground to dissolve salt, producing very salty brine that is usually wasted. SaltPower has noted that osmotic generators can tap that brine’s energy, effectively recovering electricity while forming the caverns toyobo-global.com.

There’s also interest in RED for resource recovery. For example, modified RED stacks can be used to capture ions like ammonium or phosphate from wastewater (cleaning the water while generating some power). Even lithium recovery from certain brines via electrodialysis is being researched theinnovator.news. These synergies mean osmotic technologies might find dual roles: part power plant, part water treatment or mining system.

● Scaling Up and Automation: With pilot plants running, another focus is scaling production and automation. In June 2024, Sweetch Energy partnered with Rockwell Automation to deploy advanced control systems in its pilot and prepare for an “international rollout” of osmotic stations rockwellautomation.com rockwellautomation.com. Automation will help optimize performance (ensuring pressures, flows, and membrane conditions are always at peak efficiency) and reduce the need for manual intervention. The control systems also make it easier to build standardized, modular units that can be replicated globally rockwellautomation.com. On the manufacturing side, startups are setting up pilot production lines for membranes and stack components, aiming for mass production within a few years if demand grows.

● Recognition and Research Collaborations: Osmotic power’s rising profile is evident in global forums. In 2023, the International Salinity Gradient Energy Alliance (a coalition of researchers and companies) ramped up efforts to share findings and push the tech forward osmotic-energy.eu. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report featured osmotic energy systems, highlighting their potential to yield 5,000+ TWh annually and transform water-energy systems theinnovator.news theinnovator.news. Researchers like Dr. Katherine Daniell of ANU (who contributed to that report) emphasize the huge promise especially in regions with abundant saltwater but scarce power, calling osmotic systems a “huge potential for baseload energy and clean water production” in salt-rich areas theinnovator.news. Such endorsements are bringing more attention (and funding) to the field. The European Union commissioned a comprehensive study on osmotic energy’s potential in 2024 op.europa.eu, and European inventors behind new membrane tech were finalists for the European Inventor Award 2024 for their contributions epo.org epo.org. All this points to increasing institutional support and recognition that osmotic power is moving from curiosity to serious contender in the renewable energy mix.

In summary, ongoing R&D is rapidly solving the “Achilles’ heels” that once hampered osmotic power. The combination of vastly better membranes, more efficient system components, and integration with existing infrastructure has made the difference between a neat idea and a viable technology. The next section looks at who is leading this charge in terms of companies and projects.

Leading Companies, Startups, and Global Projects

After decades of mostly academic interest, osmotic power is now being driven forward by innovative companies, startups, and demonstration projects across the globe. Here are some key players and milestones:

● Statkraft (Norway) – Early Pioneer: In 2009, Norwegian energy company Statkraft opened the world’s first osmotic power prototype in Tofte, Norway earth.org. This pilot PRO plant had a modest output (only a few kW) and mainly served to test membranes and system design. While a technological success, it highlighted economic challenges – by 2013 Statkraft halted the project due to insufficient power output and high costs earth.org. Despite closing, Statkraft’s project proved that osmotic energy could be generated reliably; it put blue energy on the map and yielded valuable research on membrane development and pretreatment (they had struggled with membrane fouling from fjord water, for example).

● REDstack (Netherlands) – Harnessing Estuaries with RED: A Dutch startup, REDstack, emerged from the Netherlands’ water tech hub (incubated by Wetsus research center). REDstack built a pilot plant on the Afsluitdijk (the iconic dike separating the IJsselmeer lake and Wadden Sea) to test reverse electrodialysis at scale. In 2014, they installed a 50 kW RED system – officially inaugurated by King Willem-Alexander in 2015 as the world’s first RED power plant redstack.nl. It continuously generated electricity by cycling fresh lake water and salty sea water through stacks of membranes redstack.nl. While 50 kW is small, it demonstrated the feasibility of larger “blue energy” plants. REDstack has since been refining their membrane stacks and expanding into related fields (they’re applying their electrodialysis tech to things like resource recovery and even carbon capture, per company updates redstack.nl). The Dutch pilot continues to be a reference point for osmotic energy in Europe, and the Netherlands sees blue energy as part of its sustainable innovation portfolio.

● SaltPower (Denmark) – First Commercial Osmotic Plant: SaltPower, a Danish company founded in 2015 by engineer Jørgen Mads Clausen, took a clever niche approach: instead of the typical sea-vs-river setup, SaltPower uses super-salty brine from industrial processes. Clausen got the idea visiting a geothermal plant, noticing the very high salinity of water from underground saltpower.net saltpower.net. He knew of Statkraft’s issues with normal seawater’s relatively low salt content saltpower.net and reasoned that using saturated brine would yield much more energy. After lab research confirmed the concept, SaltPower built a full-scale osmotic plant at a salt producer’s facility in Mariager, Denmark. Commissioned in early 2023, this plant is the world’s first operating commercial osmotic power station balkangreenenergynews.com. It generates about 100 kW continuously by mixing nearly saturated brine (pumped from underground salt caverns) with fresh water toyobo-global.com, driving a turbine via PRO. The power is fed into the salt production facility’s grid, offsetting its energy use. SaltPower’s system uses Toyobo’s hollow-fiber membranes and Danish pump technology (Danfoss), and importantly, it’s profitable in that industrial context saltpower.net saltpower.net. They effectively turned a waste stream (brine) into an energy resource.

SaltPower is now working on scaling up deployments. They’ve hinted at partnerships with major salt companies and potential uses in hydrogen storage projects (recovering energy when solution-mining salt caverns) toyobo-global.com. The company received EU Horizon 2020 funding to support its development saltpower.net saltpower.net. With one plant running, SaltPower is arguably the first mover in bringing osmotic power to market and proving it can operate reliably at commercial scale.

● Sweetch Energy (France) – Next-Gen Tech and Scaling Ambitions: Sweetch Energy is a French startup (founded 2015) at the forefront of next-gen osmotic tech. Co-founded by entrepreneurs Bruno Mottet, Pascal Le Melinaire, and nanoscience specialist Lydéric Bocquet, Sweetch’s claim to fame is the high-performance INOD membrane discussed earlier. After years of R&D and lab tests, Sweetch moved to demonstration in late 2024 with its “OPUS-1” pilot plant. Located at the Barcarin site on the Rhône River delta (southern France), OPUS-1 began operations at the end of 2024 earth.org theinnovator.news. It’s a modular demonstrator expected to produce on the order of tens of kilowatts initially (reports suggest ~50 kW capacity) curiosityaihub.com. This may seem small, but Sweetch views it as the first unit of a larger future array. In partnership with France’s Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR), the plan is to gradually install multiple osmotic units at the Rhône estuary, scaling up to 500 MW over the next decade earth.org theinnovator.news. That is an enormous scale – half a gigawatt could power over 1.5 million people in the region earth.org theinnovator.news – though this is a long-term vision pending successful intermediate steps.

Sweetch has drawn significant investor interest, raising about €50 million by 2025 from venture funds and receiving grants from the EU and French government theinnovator.news. They were also selected as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer in 2025 theinnovator.news. Sweetch’s CEO, Nicolas Heuzé, is bullish on osmotic power’s role, saying it “ticks all the boxes” of an ideal energy source – clean, continuous, instantly dispatchable, and abundant theinnovator.news. Their strategy involves partnering with utilities (like CNR) and possibly expanding abroad; they’re exploring projects in the U.S., Canada, and Asia where large osmotic resources exist theinnovator.news. If Sweetch’s technology meets performance and cost targets in the field, it could catalyze a new wave of osmotic installations globally.

● MegaWatt Blue Energy in Japan: Japan has been actively researching osmotic power for years (often calling it “blue energy”). In August 2025, the Fukuoka District Waterworks Agency inaugurated Japan’s first osmotic power plant – a notable achievement because it’s integrated into a municipal infrastructure context. This plant, at the Uminonakamichi Nata desalination center, produces ~880 MWh per year (roughly 100 kW average) theguardian.com balkangreenenergynews.com, using PRO to generate electricity from mixing seawater with treated freshwater (from a wastewater plant) balkangreenenergynews.com. The electricity helps run the desalination facility, effectively cutting its net power demand. This project was part of a national initiative (the “Mega-ton Water System” project) to improve desalination technology and sustainability theinnovator.news. It’s significant because it’s operated by a public water utility, showing that local governments see osmotic power as a practical solution. Japanese companies like Obayashi Corp (engineering) and membrane suppliers likely contributed to it – Toyobo’s membrane tech, for instance, has been used in osmotic R&D in Japan. Experts hailed Fukuoka’s plant as a major achievement and expressed hope it will be replicated elsewhere balkangreenenergynews.com. Japan now joins Denmark in having a commercial-scale osmotic plant, and further expansions in Japan are possible given the country’s need for new renewables and many coastal urban areas.

● Other Notable Projects and Players:

• South Korea has conducted pilot projects, including a collaboration in the mid-2010s to test a PRO-desalination hybrid. Korea’s water research institutes and companies like K-Water have shown interest, given Korea’s extensive coastline and desalination efforts kwater.or.kr.
• China: While not widely publicized, Chinese researchers have published papers on osmotic power and nanomaterials for it. With China’s large rivers and focus on renewable energy, we may see demonstration projects there in the coming years.
• Australia: Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) built a prototype osmotic generator (with Prof. Ali Altaee’s team) and identified potential in Australia’s salt lakes theguardian.com theguardian.com. Although the program slowed during COVID, there is interest in reviving it if funding comes through theguardian.com. Australia’s combination of coastal cities, hypersaline lakes, and need for reliable clean energy makes it a good candidate for osmotic power trials.
• Spain and Qatar: According to Dr. Altaee, prototypes have also been built in Spain and Qatar theguardian.com – likely as research testbeds. In arid regions like Qatar, osmotic power could pair with desalination plants (as in the Japanese model).
• Global Industry Alliances: In Europe, an Alliance for Osmotic Energy has been formed osmotic-energy.eu, aiming to bring together stakeholders to solve common technical challenges. Large engineering firms and component suppliers (Danfoss, Rockwell, Toyobo, etc.) are aligning with startups to provide the pieces needed for scale-up.
• It’s also worth noting that other startups have emerged. For example, Sweetch Energy isn’t the only one in France – there have been a few academic spinoffs and EU-funded projects exploring osmotic tech. However, Sweetch and SaltPower currently stand out as the best-funded and closest to commercial impact.

The presence of real working plants in Europe (Denmark), Asia (Japan), and experimental units elsewhere shows a global interest. Each project contributes to a growing knowledge base: how to operate in different conditions, how membranes perform over months/years, how to optimize costs. And each successful project is likely to spur others – for instance, countries in Europe watching the Danish/French progress, or other Asian nations noting Japan’s achievement.

Regulatory and Environmental Perspectives

Osmotic power touches on several regulatory and environmental aspects, generally falling under water resource management and renewable energy policy. Here’s a look at these perspectives:

Environmental Impact: Overall, osmotic power is considered an environmentally gentle energy technology. There are no combustion emissions, no radioactive materials, and no massive land transformation. The main environmental consideration is water intake and discharge. Osmotic plants require a steady flow of freshwater and saltwater. If these are taken from natural sources, one must ensure aquatic life (fish, plankton) are protected – similar to regulations on cooling water intakes for coastal power plants. Fine screens or fish-friendly intake designs can mitigate harm.

On discharge, the concern is the change in salinity of the outgoing water. For instance, a PRO plant takes in freshwater and seawater, then discharges brackish water (somewhere between fresh and sea salinity). If dumped recklessly, this could locally alter salinity and temperature, possibly affecting marine organisms used to a certain range. However, most osmotic designs aim to return water at the same site and in a controlled way. In France, Sweetch emphasizes that water from their osmotic generators is fully returned to the river mouth with no chemical waste or pollutants rockwellautomation.com. The water is just slightly saltier than it was originally. At modest scales, this is unlikely to make a significant difference in a large flowing estuary, as the volume of the river and sea quickly dilutes the change. Environmental impact studies for pilot projects have so far found minimal effects, especially when systems are sized to use only a fraction of the river flow.

In fact, integrating with desalination plants can turn an environmental problem into a solution: Desal plants produce highly concentrated brine that can harm marine life if dumped all at once. The Fukuoka project uses that brine for energy, which also dilutes it with freshwater before release, making the brine disposal more benign theguardian.com. This kind of symbiosis can reduce overall environmental impact of water treatment.

One environmental benefit often noted is the tiny land use. An osmotic facility mainly consists of membrane modules, pumps, and turbines housed in a building. It doesn’t need large tracts of land (unlike solar farms or wind with their spacing). It also doesn’t alter river flow like a dam would – the river still flows freely into the sea; the plant just siphons off some water at the mouth and returns it. No need to flood any valleys or block fish migrations. From a visual and ecological standpoint, it’s more akin to a water treatment plant than a power plant.

However, regulators will keep an eye on potential long-term ecosystem effects. If many osmotic plants were deployed, could the cumulative withdrawal of fresh water alter estuary dynamics? Perhaps in extreme cases, but any substantial deployment would require studies and monitoring. On a positive note, climate change is increasing freshwater outflows in some regions (e.g., glacier melt increasing river flow), and osmotic plants could utilize that without building new dams earth.org – potentially a climate adaptation measure as well as mitigation.

Regulatory Framework: Being a relatively new tech, osmotic power doesn’t always have a dedicated regulatory category. It often falls under broader headings like marine renewable energy or hydropower. In the EU, salinity gradient energy is considered part of “blue energy” (which also includes tidal and wave power) in strategic roadmaps. The European Commission’s interest (e.g., the 2024 osmotic potential study op.europa.eu) suggests that policy frameworks may evolve to support it. If osmotic projects qualify for renewable energy subsidies or feed-in tariffs (as other renewables do), that can greatly aid deployment. For example, if a country has a subsidy per kWh for ocean energy, an osmotic plant would benefit.

Permitting an osmotic plant likely involves multiple agencies: water use permits (for drawing freshwater), environmental permits (for discharge and construction in possibly sensitive coastal zones), and power generation licenses. In places like Europe or Japan where environmental standards are strict, pilot projects underwent rigorous review. The fact that they proceeded implies regulators were satisfied that any impacts could be managed.

Water Rights: One potential regulatory hurdle is water rights or allocation. Freshwater is often legally allocated for uses like agriculture, drinking supply, industry, or maintaining ecological flow. An osmotic plant, by consuming freshwater (albeit returning it as brackish water), might need to secure rights to use that water. In water-scarce regions, this could be a limitation – you wouldn’t prioritize energy over drinking water. However, many osmotic schemes use treated wastewater or otherwise unused water for the freshwater source (Fukuoka used treated sewage effluent balkangreenenergynews.com, which otherwise would discharge to the sea). This clever approach avoids competition with drinking water needs and might even get regulatory favor as it adds value to a waste stream. Similarly, using desal brine or geothermal brine means you’re not taking additional freshwater at all.

Support and Incentives: As a clean energy source, osmotic power stands to benefit from the global push for renewables. Governments may provide research grants (as seen in EU Horizon funding for SaltPower saltpower.net and French/European grants for Sweetch theinnovator.news) and innovation awards (the European Inventor Award nomination epo.org). If osmotic plants start to feed power to the grid, they could earn renewable energy certificates or be included in Renewable Portfolio Standards. Additionally, given osmotic’s synergy with water management, funding might come from water authorities as well as energy departments. For instance, the Fukuoka project was under a water agency aiming to improve desalination sustainability, showing cross-sector collaboration.

Safety and Public Perception: Osmotic power is inherently safe – no flammable fuels or high-speed machinery beyond a turbine. One could imagine a large membrane plant might use chemicals for cleaning membranes (like anti-fouling agents or biocides), which would need safe handling and disposal per regulations. But compared to conventional power plants, the risks are minor. Public perception is generally neutral-positive, as it doesn’t have the high profile of wind turbines (which some oppose for aesthetics) or nuclear. If anything, calling it “blue energy” conjures an environmentally friendly image. One could even educate the public that osmotic power stations provide both clean water and energy and are quiet (“a silent lightning strike at the delta” as one article poetically described the osmotic phenomenon earth.org).

In summary, regulators are beginning to see osmotic power as a viable new tool to meet climate goals. The framework to approve projects is largely in place (borrowing from water and renewable regulations), though it will evolve as the industry matures. Ensuring environmental safeguards will be key to maintaining the technology’s green credentials, but early signs suggest it can be done sustainably. As the WEF report noted, beyond standard licensing and impact assessments, there aren’t fundamental barriers to adoption once investment flows theinnovator.news – implying that policy-wise, it’s more a matter of giving osmotic power the same support that other clean energies enjoy.

Commercial Viability and Scalability

The central question for any emerging energy source: Can it compete economically and scale up to meaningfully contribute to the energy mix? Osmotic power is approaching a turning point on this front.

Current Status (Small Scale Economics): The first pilots like Statkraft’s were not economically viable – they were purely R&D. Today’s demonstration plants (Denmark, Japan) are still relatively small (sub-0.1 MW), likely requiring subsidy or being justified by research goals rather than pure market economics. However, they serve niche purposes that add value: e.g. SaltPower’s unit helps a salt factory reduce power costs; Fukuoka’s plant offsets some of a desal plant’s energy use. These early deployments are closing the gap thanks to high-salinity sources and dual-use benefits (power + helping an industrial process). SaltPower actually reported that using geothermal brine made the concept “indeed profitable” where normal sea/river water was not saltpower.net. This niche strategy indicates that even at today’s tech level, there are scenarios where osmotic power makes financial sense.

Cost Trajectory: The key to broad viability is reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). Sweetch Energy has explicitly set a target of €100 per MWh (10 cents/kWh) by 2030 for osmotic power theinnovator.news. At ~€100/MWh, osmotic electricity would be in the same ballpark as wholesale electricity from new nuclear or fossil plants, and cheaper than solar or wind coupled with battery storage for 24/7 supply theinnovator.news. It effectively becomes competitive for baseload generation. How to hit that target? Sweetch’s approach is to maximize performance (power output per membrane area) while minimizing membrane and system cost theinnovator.news. Higher power density means fewer membranes and smaller facilities for the same output (driving down capital cost per kW). Cheaper membrane manufacturing and modular system design also cut capital costs. Meanwhile, improving efficiency raises net output, spreading fixed costs over more kWh.

SaltPower’s claim that osmotic energy can be generated “almost at the same cost as solar and wind” toyobo-global.com is optimistic, but perhaps within reach at scale with cheap brine sources. Mass production of membranes by companies like Toyobo would lower unit costs, and as know-how improves, operational costs (O&M) should also fall (membranes lasting longer before replacement, less downtime for cleaning, etc.).

Scaling Up Output: Technically, scaling an osmotic plant means adding more membrane modules (and proportionally more pumps, turbines, etc.). It’s highly modular. There isn’t a single huge reactor or something that limits size – you can replicate modules by the dozens or hundreds. The challenge is ensuring uniform performance across many modules and managing the flows. The vision of a 500 MW osmotic farm at the Rhône, for instance, would likely involve many parallel trains of membrane modules with distributed intakes along the estuary rockwellautomation.com rockwellautomation.com. This requires significant civil works (for water intakes/outfalls) and smart control systems to optimize everything – hence partnerships with automation firms like Rockwell rockwellautomation.com rockwellautomation.com.

As projects scale, economies of scale should kick in: bulk purchasing of materials, standardized designs, and shared infrastructure (one large intake can feed multiple module lines, etc.). The first few large-scale plants will probably still be more expensive than established energy sources, but once a template is proven, replication can bring costs down rapidly.

Market Applications and Revenue Streams: Osmotic power might not initially compete head-to-head with cheap solar/wind for pure electricity in the grid. Instead, its early commercial value is in niche but significant applications:

• Desalination plants: Providing onsite power and reducing grid draw, which could be attractive where energy is a big cost for water utilities. It also improves the overall sustainability profile of desalination (which is energy-intensive).
• Industrial brine management: Salt producers, mining operations, or geothermal plants often have to dispose of brines. Installing an osmotic generator turns a waste disposal task into a co-generation opportunity. The power generated, even if moderate, can offset operational costs and the system can be part of their process water handling.
• Remote or island communities: Places that have both freshwater and saltwater but rely on diesel generators could use osmotic power for a continuous supply, reducing fuel imports. For instance, if an island has a big river and is off-grid, an osmotic plant could provide a steady backbone of power.
• Augmenting hydropower: In some delta regions, after using river flow for hydropower upstream, any remaining flow into the sea could still yield osmotic energy at the mouth. This stacks another layer of energy extraction without new dams.

As costs come down, grid-scale deployment becomes plausible. Osmotic plants could then be built as part of renewable energy portfolios. One idea is they could complement solar/wind by providing base generation, reducing the need for storage or peaking plants. Utilities might invest in osmotic sites to diversify their renewable mix (especially in regions with lots of rivers).

Investment and Commercial Interest: The period 2020–2025 has seen rising investment in this field. Aside from Sweetch’s funding, the involvement of major corporations (Danfoss, Toyobo, Rockwell) signals confidence. In Japan, big players like engineering firms and utilities are now aware of osmotic power due to the Fukuoka project. The market size is still tiny today, but one report suggests the osmotic energy market could grow to several billion USD in the next decade dataintelo.com. That likely counts investments in R&D and pilot projects, but if even a handful of 100+ MW projects get commissioned by the 2030s, it will establish a real industry.

One should note that membrane longevity and maintenance costs will heavily influence economics. If membranes last many years and don’t require constant cleaning, O&M costs will be low (mostly pumping energy and routine checks). But if they need frequent replacement or cleaning with chemicals, that adds cost. The new membranes being developed claim to be more fouling-resistant (due to smoother nanochannels, etc.), and using pre-treated water (like wastewater effluent that’s already filtered) helps too.

Policy Drivers: Commercial viability may also hinge on policy support. Carbon pricing or renewable credits can effectively make osmotic power more competitive by valuing its carbon-free nature. If a government sets a goal for marine energy or provides contracts-for-difference (CFDs) like they did for offshore wind in its early days, that could jump-start larger projects. Europe’s interest in strategic autonomy in energy might also favor developing a domestic energy resource like blue energy.

Long-Term Scalability: Looking forward, if osmotic power achieves, say, the cost target of €0.05–0.10 per kWh, there’s no fundamental limit to scaling except finding enough sites. Rivers aren’t going anywhere – in fact, with climate change, some regions may have more water flow (though others less). A single large river delta (like the Mississippi, Amazon, Ganges, etc.) could host multiple hundreds of MW of capacity theoretically. Smaller rivers might host smaller plants. The global potential of ~2 TW often cited theinnovator.news is theoretical maximum, but if even a few percent of that is harnessed, that’s on the order of tens of gigawatts – comparable to a large nuclear or hydro fleet.

Realistically, osmotic power could carve out a significant niche by 2040–2050 as technology matures. It likely won’t replace solar or wind, but it doesn’t have to – its value is providing continuous power and working in tandem with other renewables and water services. If integrated designs (energy + water) become the norm, osmotic plants might be built as add-ons to existing infrastructure, which simplifies scaling (you don’t have to justify a standalone power plant, you justify an enhancement to a desal facility or a river barrage, etc.).

In essence, the next few years (2025–2030) will be critical to demonstrate medium-scale plants (say 1–10 MW range) and drive costs down. If that succeeds, the 2030s could see the first utility-scale osmotic farms. Industry experts are optimistic: “The objective is to produce electricity 24 hours a day and reach a cost of €100/MWh by 2030,” says Sweetch’s CEO, adding that this would make it competitive with mainstream baseload power theinnovator.news. Achieving that would indeed herald osmotic power as a commercially viable pillar of the clean energy transition.

Latest News and Developments (2024–2025)

The osmotic power landscape has been rapidly evolving. Here are some of the most recent developments up to 2024 and 2025, reflecting growing momentum in this field:

• 2023 – First Osmotic Power Plant Goes Live: In April 2023, SaltPower’s plant in Mariager, Denmark became operational toyobo-global.com toyobo-global.com. This marked the world’s first osmotic power station in commercial use. With ~100 kW output, it demonstrated that osmotic energy can work outside the lab. The plant mixes nearly saturated salt brine from underground with freshwater, using Toyobo’s advanced hollow-fiber membranes, and achieves power generation costs reportedly on par with other renewables toyobo-global.com toyobo-global.com. This success garnered attention in Europe and abroad, and was a proof-point for investors and policymakers.
• Mid-2024 – European Recognition and Studies: By mid-2024, osmotic power was firmly on the European agenda. The European Commission published a study “The potential of osmotic energy in the EU” in May 2024 op.europa.eu, providing an overview of technology status and estimating how much salinity-gradient power Europe could harness. Such a study indicates that EU policymakers are evaluating osmotic energy as a component of future energy strategy. Additionally, in July 2024, French inventors Bruno Mottet and Lydéric Bocquet (the brains behind Sweetch’s membrane tech) were finalists for the European Inventor Award 2024 in the SME category epo.org. The European Patent Office highlighted their INOD membrane innovation and its potential to “sustainably meet growing energy needs” as a competitive, non-intermittent renewable source epo.org. While they did not win the top prize, the nomination itself gave significant publicity and credibility to osmotic power technology.
• Late 2024 – Sweetch’s Pilot Plant Launch (France): In the last quarter of 2024, Sweetch Energy’s OPUS-1 pilot plant became operational at the Rhône delta in France earth.org. After years of development, this was a major milestone for the company and osmotic power in general. The pilot immediately entered a testing phase to validate performance under real estuary conditions theinnovator.news. Around the same time, Sweetch secured partnerships (e.g., with Rockwell Automation in June 2024) to help scale up their technology globally rockwellautomation.com rockwellautomation.com. The Rockwell partnership press release emphasized that multiple 500 MW class osmotic stations are planned at the Rhône mouth over the coming decade rockwellautomation.com, underscoring the long-term scale of Sweetch’s vision. As of early 2025, OPUS-1 was producing power (a few dozen kW) and data, and serving as a stepping stone toward larger installations.
• June 2025 – Osmotic Power Named Top Emerging Tech: The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Frontiers, released its “Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025” list. Osmotic power systems made the list theinnovator.news, a significant nod from the global business and policy community. The WEF report, backed by the Dubai Future Foundation, cited that osmotic power could potentially supply nearly a fifth of global electricity (around 5,200 TWh/year) if scaled up theinnovator.news. It also highlighted osmotic technology’s role in reimagining water-intensive industries for energy and resource co-production theinnovator.news theinnovator.news. This recognition in an influential forum likely spurred greater interest among investors, governments, and even skepticism-turned-curiosity among experts who had previously dismissed blue energy.
• August 2025 – Japan Opens Fukuoka Osmotic Plant: In early August 2025, Japan’s first osmotic power plant began operating in Fukuoka, as mentioned earlier theguardian.com balkangreenenergynews.com. By late August, global media including The Guardian had picked up the story, noting it as only the second of its kind in the world theguardian.com. The plant’s successful start was hailed by experts. Dr. Akihiko Tanioka, a leading figure in membrane science, called it “a major achievement” and expressed hope to see such implementations replicated worldwide balkangreenenergynews.com. The Fukuoka plant integrated osmotic generation with an existing desalination facility, demonstrating a practical model that could be emulated in other coastal cities. The news from Japan also showed that Asia is now actively participating in osmotic energy development, not just Europe.
• Growing Global Pilot Activities: Throughout 2024–2025, reports have surfaced of renewed or new pilot efforts:
  • Researchers in Australia seeking funding to restart their pilot in New South Wales, citing the Fukuoka success as inspiration theguardian.com. Altaee’s team in Sydney, for instance, has identified local salt lake sites that could host an osmotic plant and are poised to proceed if support is secured theguardian.com.
  • Interest in the Middle East: The WEF report’s mention of Middle Eastern potential (lots of seawater and brine, limited freshwater) theinnovator.news has not gone unnoticed. There are rumors of pilot projects being proposed in the Gulf region, possibly tying into large desalination operations there.
  • China’s scientific community is publishing more on osmotic nanochannels and even testing small prototypes, though no full-scale plant yet. Given China’s vast river deltas (Yangtze, Pearl) and aggressive renewable targets, it wouldn’t be surprising if they announce a pilot by the late 2020s.
  • North America: In Canada, a study was done on osmotic power potential in certain remote areas (like Bella Coola in BC) haskayne.ucalgary.ca, and in the U.S., some coastal research institutions (e.g. Yale had done PRO research) continue to explore materials. No commercial projects yet, but the awareness is spreading.
  • European coordination: By 2025, the formation of an European Osmotic Energy Alliance has been noted osmotic-energy.eu. This likely involves companies like Sweetch, SaltPower, REDstack, research bodies, and perhaps utilities pooling knowledge to tackle common technical and market challenges, under EU auspices.
• Investments and Partnerships: Late 2024 and 2025 also saw some strategic partnerships:
  • Utility Partnerships: The French utility EDF’s venture arm invested in Sweetch theinnovator.news, indicating big utilities want a stake in this tech. Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, as mentioned, is directly partnering on deployment theinnovator.news.
  • Industry Tie-ups: SaltPower is partnering with salt mining and chemical companies, given its industrial focus. On the other hand, Redstack in the Netherlands started positioning its tech towards resource recovery markets (nitrogen and carbon capture) by 2025 redstack.nl redstack.nl, possibly to broaden its commercial appeal beyond just energy.
  • Market Projections: Some market research reports released in 2024 project accelerating growth of the osmotic power market by the 2030s, anticipating it to reach a multi-billion dollar value as climate change drives demand for sustainable 24/7 energy solutions dataintelo.com. While such forecasts can be optimistic, they contribute to a narrative that osmotic energy is an area to watch (and invest in).

In summary, by 2025 osmotic power has transitioned from a quasi-experimental concept to a technology with real-world pilots on three continents, growing expert advocacy, and early commercial adoption in niche markets. News of each new plant or breakthrough is met with a mix of excitement and cautious optimism in the energy community. As these developments continue, the next few years will likely determine how quickly blue energy rises from a handful of demo projects to a globally scaled solution.

Conclusion

Osmotic power systems, once a little-known idea, are now emerging as a promising frontier in renewable energy. By exploiting the simple act of mixing saltwater and freshwater, they offer a continuous, clean power supply that could complement solar and wind in the world’s push for net-zero emissions. Recent advances – from cutting-edge nanoporous membranes to the first commercial plants – have addressed many of the past limitations, injecting new momentum into the field.

As of 2025, the signs of progress are unmistakable: Europe and Asia have operational osmotic power plants; startups are hitting performance milestones that were unimaginable a decade ago; and global institutions are recognizing osmotic energy’s potential contribution on the big stage. An industry is coalescing around the concept of “blue energy,” with collaboration between scientists, engineers, companies, and policymakers to scale this technology.

To be sure, challenges remain on the road ahead. Achieving competitive costs and scaling up to hundreds of megawatts will require continued innovation and investment. But the trajectory points in the right direction. Each successful pilot strengthens the case that osmotic power can move from experimental to essential. In the words of one industry CEO, osmotic power “ticks all the boxes” of an ideal energy source – renewable, baseload, flexible, and planet-friendly theinnovator.news. It may still be early days, but the tide is rising for osmotic power, turning the age-old meeting of river and sea into a source of light and power for our future.

Sources:

1. Fiona Blin Domínguez, “Osmotic Power: The Next Wave of Renewable Energy,” Earth.Org – Mar 27, 2025 earth.org earth.org
2. Ima Caldwell, “Japan has opened its first osmotic power plant – so what is it and how does it work?” The Guardian – Aug 25, 2025 theguardian.com theguardian.com
3. “Japan’s First Osmotic Power Plant: What It Means for Clean Energy,” Renewable Energy Institute – Aug 30, 2025 renewableinstitute.org renewableinstitute.org
4. Jennifer L. Schenker, “Osmotic Energy Could Generate One-Fifth of the World’s Energy Needs,” The Innovator – Jul 2025 theinnovator.news theinnovator.news
5. Vladimir Spasić, “Japan inaugurates world’s second osmotic power plant,” Balkan Green Energy News – Aug 29, 2025 balkangreenenergynews.com balkangreenenergynews.com
6. Press Release: “Toyobo’s hollow-fiber FO membrane used at world’s first osmotic power plant…”, Toyobo Co. – Feb 20, 2023 toyobo-global.com toyobo-global.com
7. SaltPower company site – “What is SaltPower?” (founder story and tech overview) – accessed 2025 saltpower.net saltpower.net
8. REDstack B.V. – “Our Heritage” (timeline of RED project on Afsluitdijk) – accessed 2025 redstack.nl
9. Press Release: “Sweetch Energy and Rockwell Automation Optimize Unique Zero-Carbon Electricity Generation Technology,” Rockwell Automation – Jun 25, 2024 rockwellautomation.com rockwellautomation.com
10. European Commission, “The potential of osmotic energy in the EU” – Final Study Report by EnTEC/Fraunhofer, May 23, 2024 op.europa.eu
11. European Patent Office – “Harnessing the global osmotic potential… French duo nominated for Inventor Award 2024,” Press Release – May 16, 2024 epo.org