New UAE project will produce water from air

World’s first solar/thermal energy storage-powered project at Masdar City will extract water from air at a commercial scale

The world’s first project to produce commercial volumes of an uninterrupted water supply from a sustainable source, making it carbon free, will launch this month in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi.

The innovative pilot project will be run by U.S.-based water technologies company, AQUOVUM, in partnership with Masdar and Khalifa University of Science and Technology, as part of a three-party research and development agreement.

The project, which is beginning this month, will evaluate the performance of AQUOVUM’s large format Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) technology in combination with a renewable energy source, and its ability to be included in current and/or future sustainable water projects.

The AWG technology which extracts water from the atmosphere using a renewable energy source, is another promising addition to the innovative sustainability-focused projects being run in Abu Dhabi’s R&D hub, Masdar City.

The carbon-free technology will create access to clean water, a fundamental necessity in building a greener future, while contributing to the UNSDG 6 goal of ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitatric tion for all.

The AWG technology will also contribute to a market that is expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 25 per cent worldwide, and more than 30% CAGR in the Middle East and Africa alone, which are some of the world’s harshest climates where water is needed the most, according to Global Market Insights.

“Water underlies all areas of human and environmental health and it is also essential to food and energy production. Developing technologies that both protect and guarantee a constant and secure source of water, is therefore of utmost importance,” said Abdulla Balalaa, Executive Director, Sustainable Real Estate, Masdar City.