Japan’s first osmotic power plant, which generates electricity by harnessing the difference in salt concentration between seawater and freshwater, began operations in early August in a southwestern prefecture, Kyodo News Agency reported Sunday.

The Fukuoka District Waterworks Agency, the second operator globally to use the technology after a Danish company implemented it in 2023, calls it “a next-generation renewable energy source that is not affected by weather or time of day and emits no carbon dioxide.”

The process, known as salinity gradient power, generates electricity through osmosis when concentrated seawater created by extracting fresh water is separated by a permeable membrane from treated water from a sewage treatment plant.

A turbine in the plant is rotated by pressure from the movement of water from the freshwater to the saltwater reservoir, with the turbine’s motion powering a generator to produce electricity.

The agency expects the plant, which started operations on Aug. 5 in Fukuoka, to generate 880,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. This energy will be used to power a desalination facility that supplies fresh water to Fukuoka and nearby areas. (PNA)