Siemens' target of 10% growth in water, twice the rate at which the market is expected to grow, made headlines in this article. What interested me more, however, was the update from Chuck Gordon (CEO of Siemens Water Technologies) himself that Siemens intended to have a demonstration unit of its revolutionary desalination plant ready by next fall. Seeing as he comes from the Northern hemisphere, I suppose that means September 2011, which is really really soon!
In 2008, Siemens won a challenge call by Singapore's Environment and Water Industry Development Council, to develop a system that would half the energy requirements for desalination. Desalination is notoriously energy intensive which means high costs and poor environmental image, hence most countries see it as an option of last resort. Today's energy solutions for desalination are largely centred about the effective harnessing of alternative energy sources and clever ways of configuring the system so energy usage is optimised. Using electro-deionisation (EDI), Siemens believe they have a truly disruptive technology on hand that will reduce the gross energy consumption.
I'm not very sure what exactly this game changing technology of Siemens' is, since EDI in and of itself is not unfamiliar to the water industry. I understand that lab tests have gone very well to show that the technology works, though costs are still a slight challenge. That could be a real problem especially if all the energy savings just end up paying off the high cost of the system. On the plus side, Siemens is certainly well ahead of schedule -- they were only due to finish their lab tests by mid 2011, but I hear they intend to wrap that all up by SIWW 2010. Just two years to develop a disruptive technology?? I thought that was only in the digital media industry. Maybe those water innovators are finally rousing from their slumber.
Main sources:
Siemens Targets 10% Growth in Water
Siemens to Develop Innovative Seawater Desalination Technology
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