• Energy Research

The aim of this paper is to present options to make low-carbon footprint large-scale desalination a reality on arid islands with weak electrical grids. Through these options, the goal is to reconfigure on-grid wind energy/ desalination systems for large- and medium-scale water production. In this context, it is proposed to use lithium- ion batteries for stationary energy storage together with management strategies aimed at avoiding the wind energy/desalination systems having to consume energy from the conventional grid they are connected to. The control strategy is based on ensuring that the power provided by the wind farm and batteries remains in synchrony with the power demand of the desalination plant throughout the system’s useful life. The interannual variation of wind energy is considered when sizing the renewable energy system and processes for its estimation are proposed. The case study is centred on the Canary Archipelago, a region that is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but which enjoys exceptional characteristics for the exploitation of wind energy. The results obtained show the optimal wind farm and energy storage system capacities of the analysed configurations. The approach presented allows a low-carbon operational footprint. If the control strategy were to be put into practice today, the current grid restrictions and a life cycle assessment of the system carried out in a societal context that continues to be fossil fuel dependent indicate a potential reduction of 77.4% of the footprint. However, the remaining 22.6% could be eliminated in the future when the manufacturing processes of wind turbines, batteries and desalination plants receive the benefits of carbon-neutral societies. 25 2,907 11,2 Q1 Q1 SCIE 11,0

Water scarcity is a global problem that particularly affects islands located in arid regions or regions with limited water resources. This issue has prompted the development of non-conventional water sources such as fossil fuel-powered desalination systems. Concern about the high energy and environmental costs associated with this type of facility has created the ideal framework for the proliferation of desalination projects powered by renewable energies, especially wind energy due to the multiple advantages it offers. This article provides a bibliometric analysis to identify the advances made in wind-powered desalination on islands. While many studies explore wind-powered desalination, none compile references specific to islands. This paper analyses islands’ desalination needs and showcases wind-powered systems, exploring their types and uses. Firstly, the most relevant international scientific journals are identified to allow the subsequent selection and quantitative and qualitative analysis of articles directly dealing with wind-powered desalination systems. A total of 2344 articles obtained from the Scopus database were analyzed, of which 144 including 181 case studies were selected. Among the results of this study, an increasing year-on-year trend is observed in the number of published studies tackling wind-powered desalination. Finally, this paper presents a series of maps showing the most relevant facilities, projects, and data in this field, and provides an overview of the lessons learned in the decarbonization of desalination.