Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is a technique to separate a solvent (for example, fresh water) from a solution that is more concentrated (e.g. sea water) and also pressurized. A semipermeable membrane allows the solvent to pass to the concentrated solution side by osmosis. The technique can be used to generate power from the salinity gradient energy resulting from the difference in the salt concentration between sea and river water. In PRO, the water potential between fresh water and sea water corresponds to a pressure of 26 bars. This pressure is equivalent to a column of water (hydraulic head) 270 meters high. However, the optimal working pressure is only half of this, 11 to 15 bar.