Why Norway's Osmosis Power Plant Failed

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When seawater and freshwater mix, a surprising amount of energy is released. Norway tried to capture this energy using an osmotic power plant, but the plant mysteriously and abruptly shut down. Join George as he tries to figure out why using dialysis tubing, toilet parts, and a baby turbine.

Producers:
Andrew Sobey
Elaine Seward
Darren Weaver

Writer:
George Zaidan

Hosts:
George Zaidan

Executive Producer:
Matthew Radcliff

Scientific Consultants:
Brianne Raccor, Ph.D.
Anthony Straub, Ph.D.
Michelle Boucher, PhD

Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell
Original Production Funding Provided by Anne Ray Foundation
Reactions is a production of the American Chemical Society.
© 2025 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Sources:
The physical basis of osmosis
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...

Production of Electric Power by mixing Fresh and Salt Water in the Hydroelectric Pile | Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/174660a0

Salinity-gradient power: Evaluation of pressure-retarded osmosis and reverse electrodialysis
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

Pressure-retarded osmosis for power generation from salinity gradients: is it viable?
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/artic...

Norway's Osmotic Power A Salty Solution to the World's Energy Needs?
https://www.waterworld.com/home/artic...

Five popular misconceptions about osmosis
https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/ajp/article...

Biological-Physics-Energy--Information--Life.pdf
https://www.esalq.usp.br/lepse/imgs/c...

Proper NPT Threads Installation
   • Proper NPT Threads Installation  

24393943-MIT.pdf
https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/hand...

What drives osmosis?
https://link.springer.com/article/10....

Energy generation from mixing salt water and fresh water: smart flow strategies for reverse electrodialysis
https://research.utwente.nl/en/public...

Derivation of the Theoretical Minimum Energy of Separation of Desalination Processes
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs....

Simple Candy Osmosis Experiment
https://www.thoughtco.com/simple-cand...

Nature of Solvent Transfer in Osmosis
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...

Experimental Study of the Independence of Diffusion and Hydrodynamic Permeability Coefficients in Collodion Membranes | Journal of General Physiology
https://rupress.org/jgp/article-abstr...

Biological-Physics-Energy--Information--Life.pdf
https://www.esalq.usp.br/lepse/imgs/c...

Recent development in salinity gradient power
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/...

Thermodynamic and Energy Efficiency Analysis of Power Generation from Natural Salinity Gradients by Pressure Retarded Osmosis
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es30...

THE ENTRANCE OF WATER INTO BEEF AND DOG RED CELLS
https://rupress.org/jgp/article-abstr...

Polymeric Membranes for Medical Applications
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...

The world's first osmotic power plant from Statkraft
https://web.archive.org/web/201108120...

Is PRO economically feasible? Not according to Statkraft
https://www.forwardosmosistech.com/st...

Commercial Pressure Retarded Osmosis Systems for Seawater Desalination Plants
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...

Statkraft halts osmotic power investments
https://www.statkraft.com/newsroom/ne...

Theoretical and Experimental Investigations of the Potential of Osmotic Energy for Power Production
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/4/3/447

River-to-sea pressure retarded osmosis: Resource utilization in a full-scale facility
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

Osmotic power - Statkraft
https://www.youtu.be/watch?v=u5VBIYNBaDk

Producing Emission-Free Energy
https://www.youtu.be/watch?v=IePkoGQGCQw

Levelized Cost of Energy: https://www.lazard.com/research-insig...