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GReen Desalination: A closed-loop technology for full recovery of water and raw materials from the wastewater effluent

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GReen Desalination (GReen Desalination: A closed-loop technology for full recovery of water and raw materials from the wastewater effluent)

Reporting period: 2015-05-01 to 2015-10-31

The principal aim of GReen Desalination project was to deliver a well-proven concept to the water and salt markets. The desalination process involves a lot of wastewater that is currently discharged into water bodies, causing environmental degradation, while its energy and resources content goes wasted. These raw materials are leaking today from our economies and can create significant business opportunities, both in and outside EU.SOL-BRINE system comprises an advanced technology that can: (a) provide a near-market solution to the complex issue of sustainable brine handling, (b) improve the efficiency and overall costs of desalination; and (c) recover raw materials. The proof of concept was demonstrated successfully through the development of a pilot system within the European project with the acronym SOL-BRINE. It
managed to prove the concept of Zero Liquid Discharge and full resource recovery (water and salt) from desalination brine. The pilot system has been tested thoroughly and the developed technology has reached high readiness level (TRL = 6). The European funding will be utilized for elaborating the feasibility study and an investable business plan for applying this eco-innovation to end-users in industry, tourism, municipalities etc.

The feasibility study has the following objectives:

• To verify market readiness of this eco-innovative water solution
• To get a clear picture of the target market and identify the market segment that is ready to buy this technology;
• To assess market readiness in terms of receptiveness of our technology;
• To explore and assess the commercial potential of this breakthrough idea
• To make a competitive analysis
• To estimate cash flow, income and expenses, break-even points
• To produce a growth plan
• To determine key economic data such as ROI (Return On Investment)
• To develop a go-to market strategy that will enable the wider deployment of desalination, by addressing effectively environmental impacts and restriction.
"During the reporting period [01/05/2015-31/10/2015] the GReen Desalination team performed the following activities:

- We participated in seven (7) conferences: (a) Brokerage event: ""Research and Development: the key for development"", organized by the Federation of Hellenic Food Industries, where we presented our solution to Greek food industries. This event lead to follow-up meetings with Greek industries such as Coca-Cola; (b) IWWA TV Conference 2015 Industrial Waste and Wastewater Valorization, where we delivered an oral presentation; (c) European Maritime Day: during the event we were awarded the 1st Blue Growth Award by the Commissioner for the Environment and Maritime Affairs, Mr. Karmenu Vella; (d) Water Conference 2015: we delivered an oral presentation, attracting the interest of Greek and international companies such as GDF Suez; (e) WssTP Conference 2015, during this conference the company was made visible to more than 200 water stakeholders, as well as we participated in two Working Groups, namely: Resource Recovery Working Group and Water& Industry Working Group; (f) Resources Info Day: this conference was organized by the European Commission. The GReen Desalination team participated in the event on 21.09.2015 networking with potential partners for submitting proposals to scale up our technology; and (g) SPIRE Info Day: this conference was organized by the Platform for Sustainable Process Industries in collaboration with the European Commission. During this event we attracted the interest of more than 30 stakeholders, which were interested to participate in the proposal that we will submit in March 2016, under the call Circular Economy 1.

- We participated in the STARTUPBOOTCAMP competition, which was organized by the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The organizers of this competition screened more than 15,000 companies and selected only 10, GReen Desalination being one of which. The Scientific Coordinator of GReen Desalination project moved from Greece to the Netherlands, where he had the opportunity to network with Dutch Industries, Partners and Investors. The Acceleration Program lasted from 01.09.2015 - 26.11.2015. On 26 November a presentation was delivered in an audience of 1,000 people, 120 out of which Investors.

- We submitted a position paper to the Open Consultation on the Circular Economy on 20.08.2015

- We were invited to participate in the Seminar ""Access to finance for circular economy projects – preparing a project pipeline"" on 16.09.2015. The event was organized by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank and had as an objective to investigate possibilities to be funded by EIB.

- We submitted a Position Paper on 31.09.2015 in collaboration with EU Salt Organization to the European Commission, presenting the market opportunity to recover the minerals from the salty wastewater effluent (brine) produced by desalination plants.

- We established a start-up company in the Netherlands named SEALEAU B.V (the company was finally established in November 2015). This company has the objective to commercialize the eco-innovative GReen Desalination technology. SEALEAU has submitted a proposal under SME Phase 2 call, with the GReen Desalination 2 on 25.11.2015.

- The company has attracted the interest of at lease six investors. We are currently under discussions to raise private funding of €500K, in order to include investors in the shareholder structure and implement the business plan developed.

- We have identified our lead customer. We are currently signing up this customer for a five year leasing period. We are going to finance the Capital Expenditure of the equipment and they are going to pay to the company a leasing fee per cubic meter. This module will cover 10% of the total capacity of the industry, which will be expanded to the whole capacity within the next two years. The financial model will change from leasing to licensing model for the rest of the capacity.

- We have prepared a patent that will be applied within 2016

- During the six months period, the GReen Desalination team collaborated closely with STARTUPBOOTCAMP and Ernst & Young to develop the Financial Model and to identify the beachead market. The market introduction strategy was completely changed, after having determined the lead customer in the Netherlands. The municipalities, which were initially thought as our first customers, have now been recognized as the long-term customer. The industry has been identified to have an immediate need to manage their salty wastewater. Our lead customer has already reached the limits of their permit, so they a need a solution for elimination of salty wastewater in order to continue their business development."
- Revenue of 15 Million euro in five years time through implementation of the business model delivered with this final report
- Shift from traditional to next generation desalination: circular desalination. The eco-innovative GReen Desalination technology will contribute to large scale deployment of desalination, and this way
- Contribution to the global challenge of water crisis
- Contribution to Zero Liquid Discharge and resource recovery in the desalination process
- Better compliance of industries with regulations
- Minimization of water footprint of the industries
- Sustainable water supply