IDE to build $150m desalination plant in Australia

Israel-based IDE Technologies announced last week that it signed a deal to build a desalination plant worth over €100 million in Australia. IDE is a joint venture of Israel Corp.'s Israel Chemicals unit and the Delek Group.

IDE did not identify the company that it is building the desalination plant for, stating only that it is a "major industrial client." In January, Reuters reported that IDE won a tender to build a desalination plant worth more than $100 million as part of an iron-mining project in western Australia.

The 140,000 cubic meter per day facility, which will be based on reverse osmosis technology, is slated for completion in 2010.

"It establishes IDE's presence on the Australian continent, strengthens its worldwide deployment in line with the company's business strategy of global expansion and strengthens IDE's position as a world leader in the seawater desalination market," said Avshalom Felber, CEO of IDE.

The company said the project is one of the most complex in the world and one of the largest of its kind supplied by IDE to a foreign client. According to IDE, the quality of the feed water necessitates more precise and complex treatment than in similar installations elsewhere.

IDE said the Australian client will use the desalinated water for production processes and drinking water.

Established in 1965, IDE specializes in commercial applications of thermal and membrane technologies for desalinating and converting sea and brackish water for drinking and process water. The company has supplied more than 385 plants of different types and capacities in 40 countries, and said the plants produce more than 1.6 million cubic meters per day.

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IDE to build 3 desalination plants in Asia

IDE to build 3 desalination plants in Asia

Israel Desalination Enterprises (IDE) Technologies won a tender to build three desalination plants in Asia worth of a total of about $80 million, IDE said on Tuesday.

IDE, jointly owned by Israel Chemicals and the Delek Group, did not say where in Asia the plants will be built, but the statement said the projects should be completed by the end of 2009.

Each plant will be able to desalinise up to 24,000 cubic metres of water a day, IDE said.

Avshalom Felber, president and chief executive of IDE, said the project was meant to "widen the company internationally and strengthen IDE's status as a world leader in desalination."

In the past year, IDE has won tenders to build desalination plants in China and Australia.

In related news, the H2ID group, of which IDE is a member, said this week it has completed an agreement to receive 1.5 billion shekels ($450 million) in financing for a desalination plant in Israel from a consortium of foreign banks.

The desalination plant, to be built in the coastal town of Hadera, will provide 100 million cubic metres of drinking water a year at a cost of 2.56 shekels per cubic metre.

Israel already has another two desalination plants which produce a combined 130 million cubic metres.

National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said he will submit a plan to the government on Sunday to increase the annual amount of water desalinated to 750 million cubic metres.

Source: Reuters; Reuters

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IDE to build desalination plant in Australia

Israeli water technology in the news

What follows are links to a few recently published articles related to Israeli water companies and technologies.

Interview with AqWise CEO Elad Frenkel

AqWise last month raised $3.6 million to support its growth plans, which center on its AGAR (Attached Growth Airlift Reactor) technology and ecological water sanitation process for municipal, industrial and aquaculture wastewater treatment. In this interview, CEO Elad Frenkel discusses the global wastewater market and Aqwise's prospects.

"Stream Control" takes the pressure off water pipes

Stream Control, a graduate of the Yozmot HaEmek technological incubator, has developed a device called the Aquaguard Smart Pressure Reduction Controller, designed to ensure proper flow of water through municipal pipes, thus preventing leaks and saving both water and money.

CEO Shlomo Avitbul discusses the company in this article on Israel21c. "We just finished a major project in Jerusalem's old city, where our installations reduced leakage by 35%," Avitbul says, adding that the product is set to be deployed in a number of other cities in Israel in the coming months. The company is also working on several deals in Europe - specifically Spain, Germany, and Italy.

New technique adds magnesium to desalinated water

Technion researcher Dr. Ori Lahav has developed a new technique that cheaply introduces healthful magnesium ions to desalinated water. In a few months, a semi-industrial plant will be set up adjacent to the small desalination plant at Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael to try out the process in the field. It is expected to supply 400 to 1,000 cubic meters of mineral-enriched desalinated water per day. The new process will be presented at the upcoming conference of the Israel Water Association.

Dr. Lahav is a scientific adviser to AquaPure Technologies.

"Australia should learn from Israeli desalination"

A Melbourne University scientist says Australia could learn a lot about water efficiency from Israel.

Ray Ison traveled to Israel with a delegation of Australian farmers, conservationists and government officials, paid for by the Jewish National Fund.

While he says there are some environmental problems with water from the country's desalination plants, Professor Ison says much of Israel's agriculture depends on irrigating desert land, and most of that water is recycled.

"Much of the water comes from recycled urban use," he said.

"Some of it comes from several processes in agriculture, so you may have fish farming, followed by algal production, or bio-proteins and other things in water, it might go onto plants, so they maximise every drop of water in the integrated production systems."

Source: ABC Rural

Granite Hacarmel to invest in Indian renewable energy projects

Granite Hacarmel Investments Ltd. has signed an memorandum of understanding (MOU) to participate in the setting up of a company that will invest in renewable energy projects in India. Granite Hacarmel will provide $6 million of the venture's initial investment of at least $20 million.

Granite Hacarmel CEO Ami Sagis told "Globes", "We decided to build on the company's strengths in areas complementary to our regular business, including energy and especially renewable energy. We've accumulated extensive experience in the water and energy industries in Israel."

Sagis added, "In India, there is a severe shortfall between energy needs and energy supply, which creates a great opportunity to enter this market, while utilizing Granite Harcarmel's capabilities."

Granite Hacarmel's cleantech business is carried out through subsidiary GES Global Environmental Solutions Ltd., which focuses on water technologies. GES is a partner in the Palmachim seawater desalination facility. Last week, it was reported that GES planned to increase its holding in UniqKleen Technologies Ltd., a start-up developing technologies for treating industrial effluent with magnets.

According to Sagis, "We'll invest in all renewable energy sectors, from cogeneration, wind farms, and pumped storage hydroelectric power. We think that expanding our holding in this field is the right thing to do worldwide, and in India in particular."

AquAgro Fund announces launch of Aqua Lab for early stage investments

Nir Belzer and Hillel Milo, the managing partners of the AquAgro Fund, announced the launch of Aqua Lab and discussed their fund's investment strategy in an exclusive interview in "Globes".

AquAgro Fund, a venture capital fund affiliated with Gaon Agro Industries Ltd., is focused primarily on mid-to-late stage water, agriculture and other cleantech-related companies. The fund recently invested $4 million in Advanced Desalination Technologies. AquAgro has raised $40 million and plans to close on $100 million by the end of 2008.

Aqua Lab

With the launch of Aqua Lab, which will operate in a format similar to that of a technology incubator, AquAgro Fund will now also be involved in making seed and early-stage investments.

"We decided to set it up together with two overseas funds, and it will be managed by Oded Sagee [Chief Scientist of Gaon Agro Industries]," says Nir Belzer. "The important thing here is that Aqua Lab is not a fund, and so there are no limitations on the time one can spend raising money for it. Venture capital funds, by contrast, have a deadline set out in the prospectus, by which time you have to have secured the maximum commitment out of the designated target sum. We will decide whether to float or merge Aqua Lab depending on how profitable and successful it is. In other words, its unique structure gives us flexibility in various matters," Belzer adds. Milo will be company chairman.

According to Belzer, each company under the Aqua Lab umbrella will receive between $250,000 and $750,000 in investment, with an option of follow-on investment under the auspices of the AquAgro Fund. Belzer and Milo prefer not to disclose the names of the funds that have joined the investment so far but say that one is from the US and the other European, with all three entities owning the company in equal shares.

"We want Aqua Lab to have an international character with the partners sharing responsibility," explains Milo. At the same time as the tying up of the procedural ends entailed in the formation of the company, which has already been registered, Aqua Lab is seriously considering investments in two companies, and hopes to finalize these by the end of the current quarter. Also under consideration are early stage investments in four more companies.

Investment in agriculture and food

Globes: How will the fund operate?

Milo: "It will last for 8-10 years. We will not invest more than 10% of the fund in one company and we intend to reach 12-13 investments in all, provided that we manage to raise $100 million. The idea is to create an adequate spread of the risks on the one hand, while maintaining a critical mass in each company on the other."

Belzer and Milo have known each other for 10 years, and both have gained knowledge and investment experience in other funds. They teamed up with Benny Gaon, Chairman of Gaon Agro Industries, who wanted to set up a cleantech fund, and gave it shape and focus. He brought the money. The fund focuses principally on water, alternative energy, smart agriculture and food, "and we don't go in for trends," says Belzer. "We will stick to things that really are essential. Such as, for instance, cost reduction, which is a critical factor when selecting a technology - reducing the price of a cubic meter of desalinated water, a kilowatt hour of solar energy, and the consumption of water per hectare for a specific crop," Milo explains.

The fund employs a utility model when investing in technologies designed to cut costs. This means that if the company has significantly reduced its price per unit, the fund shares in the profits and not just the technology. "This is the sole incentive to buy technologies like these. Ultimately, it's a commodity, so costs are a critical element," says Belzer.

What differentiates your fund from others?

Milo: "We have several unique characteristics, one of which is the fact that we will also invest in agriculture and food, fields which other cleantech funds (worldwide as well) avoid. Because of the changes in regulation and requirements in the food industry, there are now a lot of investment opportunities for venture capital in these two fields."

Belzer: "There is now rivalry between products that serve as food ingredients and fuel applications. Smart agriculture focuses on the growing of inedible crops, on residual land and in saline water. One option is the growing of seaweed. There is no shortage of saline water in the Negev, the Jordan Valley and the Arava region. Israel will be an excellent trial site for this, and the big money will be in the growing of raw materials for producing biomass fuel. We're well ahead of the rest of the world in smart agriculture and water and we are poised to build a strong strategic presence in them."

Hillel Milo is a mechanical engineer and co-founded Walden Israel, Clal Venture Capital, and Israel Infinity Venture Capital, and was also managing partner of Alice Ventures. Nir Belzer is a computer and avionics engineer and co-founder of the Millenium funds.

Mekorot to develop water infrastructure in India

Cleantech.com reports that Jain Irrigation Systems of India and Mekorot, the national water company of Israel, today signed an MOU to work together on water projects in India.

The two companies say they plan to explore projects in desalination, water resource management, water supply, municipal water management and/or wastewater treatment and reclamation projects.

Growing urban populations in India have made existing capacities of water treatment, waste water treatment and recycling inadequate. The country has introduced more stringent pollution control, which is rendering many existing technologies obsolete.

Mekorot is a leader in water resources management, desalination, wastewater treatment and effluent reuse, rain enhancement, water quality, water security and water project engineering.

It supplies 80 percent of Israel's drinking water and 70 percent of its entire water supply, operating 3,000 installations across the country.

Arison's Blue-Green unit to build desalination plant

"Globes" reports that Housing and Construction Holding Co. Ltd. (Shikun u'Binui) subsidiary Blue-Green Development and Investment Ltd. will build and operate a five million cubic meter brackish water desalination plant for Kibbutz Kfar Masaryk in the Galilee. Blue Green has an option to expand the plant's output by an additional three million cubic meters of water. Construction will cost NIS 40 million.

The facility will desalinate brackish water from the sources of the Neeman and Kurdani Rivers using reverse osmosis technology. The water will be pumped from drills on kibbutz land.

Blue Green is the cleantech arm of Housing and Construction, which is controlled by Shari Arison through Arison Holdings Ltd. The company operates a wide range of infrastructure projects, including water and sewage management, municipal water management, and renewable energy. The company is Israel's largest private sewage treatment company for municipalities. Amir Levi is its CEO.

Advanced Desalination Technologies raises $4 million from AquAgro Fund

AquAgro Fund, a cleantech venture capital fund affiliated with Gaon Agro Industries Ltd., has made its first investment. Sources inform ''Globes'' that it is investing $4 million in Advanced Desalination Technologies Ltd.

Advanced Desalination Technologies -- now renamed Desalitech --has reportedly completed a pilot at a municipal facility. Desalination and improving wells are two fields where every saving is essential, and the company's reverse osmosis technology is designed to greatly improve the efficiency of desalination.

AquAgro managing partner Nir Belzer declined to comment on financial matters, but confirmed that an investment had been made. He added that a major international fund was considering investing in Advanced Desalination Technologies. He said that the investment in the company was in line with the fund's policy of investing in companies with proven technologies undergoing pilot programs prior to commercialization.

Advanced Desalination Technologies is a family firm founded by Prof. Avi Efrati, and his son, Nadav Efrati, who will shortly take over as CEO. The company employs subcontractors, and raised $2 million prior to AquAgro's investment. The company has no website.

AquAgro invests in late-stage cleantech ventures. Its founder and chairman, Benjamin Gaon, is the chairman of Gaon Agro and its parent company, B. Gaon Holdings Ltd.. The fund has raised $40 million, and plans to close on $100 million by the end of 2008.

Ben-Eliezer calls for increased desalination

"Globes" reports that at its weekly meeting, the cabinet reviewed the option of increasing water production at desalination plants at Ashkelon, Hadera, and Palmachim. Last year, the government increased the planned quantity of desalinated water to 500 million cubic meters a year, and ordered the building of two plants, one to be operated by the Shafdan: Dan Region Sewage Reclamation Project in Rishon LeZion, and another plant to be operated by Mekorot National Water Company in Ashdod.

Minister of National Infrastructures Benjamin Ben-Eliezer presented an action plan to address the water crisis in Israel, in the light of the lack of rainfall so far this winter. His plan calls for, among other things, the imposing of restrictions on the watering of public and private parks; a further cut in fresh water quotas for agriculture, and an intensive PR campaign to encourage people to save water.

According to Ben-Eliezer, these moves will not suffice on their own. "The action needed now is to step up the planned building and expansion of desalination facilities," he said. "We're in a difficult situation."

Pacific Islands delegation visits Israel to learn about renewable energy, water technologies

Pacific Magazine reports that American Samoa Congressman Faleomavaega has just returned from Israel where he and other Pacific Island representatives discussed ways to advance their relationship.

“Given that Israel is known for its technological advancements in wind, water, and solar energy, and that Israel has also made important advancements in the desalinization process which is critical to Pacific Island nations that may face serious water shortages, we felt that an educational program and exchange would be a first step in developing a partnership for the future,” Faleomavaega says.

Participants included Ambassador Masao Nakayama, Federated States of Micronesia; Ambassador Fekitamoeloa Utoikamanu of Tonga; Ambassador Mason Smith, Fiji; Ambassador Rina Tareo, Republic of the Marshall Islands; Ambassador Marlene Moses, Republic of Nauru; Ambassador Stuart Beck of Palau; and Ms. Evelyn Beck, Counselor, UN Mission, Republic of Vanuatu, and Ambassador Aliíioaiga Feturi Elisaia of Samoa.

“In addition to renewable energy advancements, Israel has also made considerable advancements in aquaculture and our delegation was able to visit a 1200 acre aquaculture fish farm the Israeli government has developed to grow ornamental fish, and also fish for consumption. As I have said before, the ornamental marine aquaculture industry is estimated to be at $6 billion. On the consumption side, the U.S. imports more than $10 billion in seafood making fish farming a viable means for economic development in American Samoa and among our Pacific Island nations.”

IDE to build desalination plant in Australia

According to an article in Reuters, Israel Desalination Enterprises Technologies (IDE) won a tender to build a desalination plant worth more than $100 million in western Australia, Israeli financial daily TheMarker reported on Sunday.

IDE, jointly owned by Israel Chemicals and the Delek Group, will build a plant capable of producing 50 million cubic metres of water annually as part of an iron-mining project in Pilbarra, the paper said.

IDE officials declined to comment.

The company in November postponed a planned initial public offering in London as a result of prevailing global market conditions. It had aimed to raise up to $200 million in global depositary shares.

Desalination company IDE set for IPO

Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: CHIM) announced that they plan to float at least 25% of their joint venture IDE Technologies Ltd. on the London Stock Exchange. Sources tell Globes that IDE plans to raise up to $200 million at a company value of $500 million, before money.

IDE was founded in 1965. The company develops both thermal and seawater reverse osmosis desalination - the two prevailing technologies for seawater desalination, and is active in 40 countries, including China, India, Israel, Australia, Latin America, and the US. It has designed and built more than 370 facilities to date.