Who was at IDA 2009?

Jean-Michel Herrewyn says that Veolia benefits from technologies developed elsewhere.

Utilities Middle East caught up with both CEOs to discuss the benefits of a landmark new relationship between the two companies.

Can you explain what NanoH2O is offering to the desalination market?
Jeff Green (CEO of NanoH2O): NanoH2O is an early-stage developer of the next generation of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. As a new company, it’s important for us to establish ourselves and we’re very close to our first commercial product so it’s an important time for us.

How did NanoH2O first come to your attention?
Jean-Michel Herrewyn (CEO of Veolia Solutions & Technologies): Actually, the initial contact was made through an IDA event in Barcelona two years back.

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At that time they presented their ideas and research and we thought that it was a clever and interesting product and wanted to learn and discover more.

It evolved until the point where we formed the basis of a business relationship to meld the strengths of the two companies. It’s a great example of the kind of arrangements an event like this can produce.

How important is the relationship from your perspective as a new company?
JG: It’s absolutely critical. The most important thing for any new technology is to be demonstrated at a commercial level.

You can present your research, but ultimately for customers like the municipalities and large-scale industry to adopt technology, they need to have seen the results in the field.

As a smaller company, the question is how quickly can you achieve those results and once you do, what are the channels that will help you accelerate your sales.

Veolia has that ability to move us quickly to the commercial testing phase. The water market is very local; different waters have different characteristics, so you need to have presence and testing in a number of different geographies.

Can you provide further details about your first commercial product?
JG: It’s a nano-composite seawater RO membrane. RO membranes are typically made of a pure polymer film - we add nano particles to the film that makes up the surface of the membrane. The key performance metrics for membranes are productivity - so in desalination you have pressure, which equates to energy consumption and which drives water through the membrane.

The more permeable the membrane, the greater the opportunity to either drop the consumption by dropping pressure, or produce more water in a similar-sized plant.