UCLA spin-out NanoH20 announces plans for $45m seawater desalination plant to be built in China.
NanoH20, a spin-out of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has announced plans to construct a $45m seawater desalinisation plant in Liyang, China.
NanoH20, which already has a similar plant based in Los Angeles, plans for the plant to be operational by the end of 2014. China is estimated to have around 1.35 billion people living within its borders, around a fifth of the world’s total, but only controls six percent of the global fresh water supply. To counteract this, China is planning to increase its seawater reverse osmosis desalination capacity three-fold by 2015.
Jianghua Su, mayor of Liyang, said: “Developing new sources of affordable, clean water is a priority for China’s ongoing economic development. Liyang is excited to welcome NanoH2O and its leading desalination membrane technology to China, adding to Liyang’s growing roster of multi-national industrial and cleantech corporations looking to expand global operations and commercial efforts.”
Jeff Green, chief executive and chairman of NanoH2O, added: “Just two years after our commercial entry into the RO membrane and desalination markets, the opening of this second facility marks a major expansion for our company that will allow us to support a rapidly growing international market. The Liyang plant is the first RO membrane manufacturing facility in China to utilize advanced nanotechnology. We look forward to working closely with our colleagues in Liyang to bring the next generation of energy efficient reverse osmosis membranes to China and other strategic markets across the globe.”
Since founding in 2005, NanoH20 has raised $95.5m in venture funding, including a round in 2012 worth $60.5m. It’s backers include chemical conglomerate BASF through its venture unit, oil company Total, Comerica Bank, and venture firms Lighthouse Capital Partners, Oak Investment Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Keytone Ventures. It is commercialising thin film nanocomposite membrane technology, branded as QuantumFlux, originally developed at UCLA.
