Multidisciplinary Approach for deep seawater Energy VAlorization – MAEVA

The Sea Water Air Conditioning (SWAC) technology, using deep-sea cold water, remains widely underutilized worldwide due to its limited understanding and requiring substantial investments. However, it efficiently air conditions existing buildings and districts and reduces consumption, power demand, and CO2 emissions by a factor of ten. In the context of climate change and successive heatwaves, the demand for active cooling equipment in buildings is expected to surge beyond the predictions made by the International Energy Agency in its 2018 'Future of Cooling' report.

This project proposes a multidisciplinary approach to identify and overcome any barriers that may hinder or limit the adoption of deep-sea water air conditioning (SWAC) technology, with the following operational objectives:

• Identify and anticipate environmental, social, and societal barriers and obstacles.
• Study the potential industrial and agricultural valorization of seawater discharges from the SWAC process.
• Explore opportunities for utilizing the resource for cold/electricity co-generation.
• Define integration strategies for these technologies in more sustainable buildings and districts.
• Carry out multifactorial optimization, taking into account all relevant issues.

The project will provide new knowledge and tools for designing future SWAC installations and will highlight improvements for existing SWAC facilities. Through a multidisciplinary approach, it will enable the anticipation of potential barriers to the implementation of SWAC technology in all regions with cold water near the coasts. It will provide answers to energy, environmental, societal, and economic issues expected by designers and decision-makers. The MAEVA project will thus promote SWAC as a sustainable and resilient air conditioning technology."