(Sherbrooke, QC) Today, alongside project partners, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) announced the $14.1 million Oneka Glacier Project – Utility-Scale Wave Powered Sustainable Desalination, led by Oneka Technologies, a Sherbrooke, Quebec-based clean tech company. In the project, Oneka will scale up its wave-powered desalination technology to utility-scale, creating a desalination “Glacier” system to make the ocean a sustainable and affordable source of freshwater.
Oneka Technologies will work with project partners AF Theriault who is supporting the manufacturing the hull and structure of the Glaciers’; H2O Innovation who is providing the process plant for the desalination portion of the Glacier technology; and government partner, the City of Barrington, NS who will provide a coastal site for buoy installation at Cape Sable Island. With a total project value of $14.1 million, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster will provide $6.7 million in funding with the balance of coming from project partners.
Since the ocean contains almost all the world’s water and approximately half the world’s population lives within 100 km of a coast, there is a significant opportunity for portable, modular, energy efficient desalination plants in coastal areas. The project team will use breakthrough technology to harness wave power to produce fresh water, producing no GHG emissions, requiring minimal land, and employing responsible brine-using modular units for water-scarce regions globally while also reducing water costs by two-thirds or more in identified markets.
Through the Oneka Glacier Project and the technological advancements it employs, Canada can become the global hub of ocean-supplied sustainable freshwater for coastal populations and industries by exporting this high-value technology around the world, helping realize its ambition of bringing fresh water to all communities.
Quotes:
“Through this investment, our government is supporting breakthrough wave-power technology that will enable the production of fresh water at a very low cost and without GHG emissions. Scaling up this project is key for the company’s ability to create well-paying jobs, accelerate its commercialization efforts and seize export opportunities.” – The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
“Our government is proud to contribute to Oneka Technologies’ vision. This Quebec-based clean tech company is working to scale up its desalination buoy system, granting coastal communities more affordable and sustainable access to fresh drinking water. This innovative project is taking Canada one step further toward becoming a global leader in providing technology for sustainable fresh water for coastal populations and industries.” – The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
“I am committed to the environment and the adoption of clean technologies. Today, Canada’s Ocean Cluster announced its partnership with Oneka Technologies and its project partners to produce fresh water at the lowest possible cost and without carbon emissions by harnessing wave power. It’s amazing to see such a revolutionary project, right here in our community, that could help increase global access to safe drinking water.” – Élisabeth Brière, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Sherbrooke
“We are extremely excited to announce the Oneka Glacier project, our first ever Quebec-led project that will not only deliver new economic activity in ocean, but also create a solution to a significant challenge – access to freshwater for communities of all sizes. We are inspired by the innovation of this project team and excited that Canada’s Ocean Supercluster can help make it a reality.” – Kendra MacDonald, CEO, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster
“As Canadians, we are privileged with an abundance of freshwater. However, freshwater scarcity is one of the world’s greatest 21st century challenges. I am proud that we team up with incredible partners, H2O Innovation and AF Theriault to develop our Glacier unit and bring our know-how and expertise to the rest of the world. Propelled by the invaluable help of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, this sustainable source of water will make coastal populations and industries across the globe, including the Barrington Municipality, in Nova Scotia, more resilient to impacts of climate change.” – Dragan Tutic, CEO and Founder of Oneka Technologies
“We have been delivering land-based desalination plants all over the world for over 20 years now. With this project, we will apply our deep desalination expertise to ocean-based desalination plants solely powered by wave energy. While desalination is a robust and sustainable solution to water scarcity, it is often perceived as an energy-intensive process that uses meaningful portions of grid and conventional energy sources. Oneka’s innovative approach, which uses the power from the waves to mechanically push the water through our reverse osmosis systems, is a technological game changer because it has literally no carbon footprint and uses free, untapped, consistent, and renewable energy extracted right at the location of the desalination plant on the floating vessel. We are incredibly proud to be a consortium partner for this visionary project.” – Guillaume Clairet, COO of H2O Innovation
“We are delighted to be partnering with Oneka Technologies for the achievement of a project that will meet a growing need in the world, access to drinking water. We believe that desalination is part of the solution if we use systems that have been designed to operate in a sustainable manner. This project is an opportunity for our employees to put their expertise to good use by integrating their know-how which will facilitate the development of this innovation. In addition, it allows AF Theriault, which operates in a cyclical maritime industry, to diversify its markets. We are excited to create a success story with Oneka and its partners.” – Gilles Theriault, President of AF Theriault
About Canada’s Ocean Supercluster
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster is a pan-Canadian, industry-led transformative cluster focused on tackling some of the biggest challenges across ocean sectors through a collaborative program designed to accelerate the development and commercialization of globally relevant solutions, while also building a highly-capable, inclusive workforce. The OSC has approved 86 projects with a total value of more than $400 million which will deliver more than 130 new made-in-Canada ocean products, processes, and services to sell to the world.
About Oneka Technologies
Oneka Technologies is a Canadian company working in the water technology sector, with a growing international presence. Its mission is to make the oceans a sustainable and affordable source of freshwater. Using only the renewable energy created through ocean waves, Oneka turns seawater into fresh water, allowing coastal communities and industries facing water scarcity to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Founded in Sherbrooke, Quebec in 2015, the company employs more than 25 employees and has operations in Florida, Chile and soon, in Nova Scotia.