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.
In the project, Oneka will scale up its wave-powered desalination technology to utility-scale
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.
