World’s first sub sea desalination plant starts operation in Norway
What if the cost of producing desalinated water cost nothing and used no energy? That'd be revolutionary.
Key takeaways
- Turning seawater into drinking water is so costly and energy-intensive that it’s untenable in most parts of the world, although that’s changing, now a Norwegian company is trialling a new approach that could change that.
- Flocean will launch the world’s first commercial-scale subsea desalination plant in 2026, and says its system will cut the cost and energy consumption of the process dramatically.
- Land-based desalination currently produces about 1 per cent of the world’s fresh water supply, with over 300 million people relying on this source for their daily water needs.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2025) 'World’s first sub sea desalination plant starts operation in Norway', 311 Institute, 5 November. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/worlds-first-sub-sea-desalination-plant-starts-operation-in-norway/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Turning seawater into drinking water is so costly and energy-intensive that it’s untenable in most parts of the world, although that’s changing, now a Norwegian company is trialling a new approach that could change that. Flocean will launch the world’s first commercial-scale subsea desalination plant in 2026, and says its system will cut the cost and energy consumption of the process dramatically.
Global demand for water is going up, driven by population growth, climate change and industrial uses like data centres and manufacturing. Meanwhile, fresh water is becoming less abundant due to droughts, deforestation and over-irrigation.
Land-based desalination currently produces about 1 per cent of the world’s fresh water supply, with over 300 million people relying on this source for their daily water needs. The biggest plants are in the Middle East, where cheap energy makes the technology more feasible and water scarcity makes it more necessary.
The leading technology for desalination today is reverse osmosis. The method pumps seawater through a membrane with microscopic holes that only allow water molecules to pass through, while salt and other impurities get filtered out. The water has to be pressurised to push it through the filters, a process that requires vast amounts of energy.
Flocean’s approach meanwhile is to plunge water-filtering pods deep into the ocean, separate seawater from salt at depth, then pump the fresh water back up to land. By putting reverse osmosis pods deep underwater, the technology leverages hydrostatic pressure – the weight of all the water pressing down from above – to push the seawater through filtering membranes and that gives this newest desalination a huge advantage in the marketplace. So, we’ll keep an eye on it and see how it progresses.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
What if the cost of producing desalinated water cost nothing and used no energy? That'd be revolutionary.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Sources and further reading
- Flocean flocean.green
- demand for water weforum.org
- World annual fresh water losses could supply 280 million people worldbank.org
- about 1 per cent sciencedirect.com
- in the Middle East aquatechtrade.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 5 November 2025. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2025). World’s first sub sea desalination plant starts operation in Norway. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/worlds-first-sub-sea-desalination-plant-starts-operation-in-norway/
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