Silal Launches First-Of-Its-Kind Solar Powered Desalination Project

Silal, Abu Dhabi’s leading food, agriculture, and technology company, and Desolenator, a solar thermal desalination company headquartered in the Netherlands, have launched a pilot project deploying solar-powered desalination technology to turn saline water into pure water for irrigation and provide a sustainable cooling option for greenhouses.

Causing zero environmental harm, the unique project aims to contribute to the decarbonization of food production in desert climates by significantly lowering the carbon footprint of the desalination process.

The project is supported by an AED 100 million R&D fund launched by ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company, in 2022. The fund forms part of its ‘Growth Lab’, a community of innovators across ADQ’s portfolio that realizes the company’s commitment to accelerating innovation and R&D, focusing on unlocking growth opportunities, and driving value creation and sustainability across priority sectors of the UAE’s economy.

The project aims to demonstrate how innovative partnerships can address the water-food-energy nexus and model sustainable agriculture for countries worldwide. It also marks a paradigm shift in handling the vital water-food-energy nexus and is a testament to the power of collaborative innovation in advancing global sustainable development goals.