Energy Technology Ventures, a GE-NRG Energy-ConocoPhillips Joint Venture, Invests in Israeli Wastewater-to-Electricity Company Emefcy
By Energy Technology Ventures And Emefcy Ltd, PRNEMonday, June 27, 2011
CAESAREA, Israel, June 28, 2011 -
Energy Technology Ventures - a GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips
joint venture - is making its first non-US and first water-related
investment by providing capital to Emefcy Ltd, an Israeli company
that can turn wastewater treatment from a huge energy drain to an
electricity generator.
Emefcy’s technology uses naturally occurring bacteria in an
electrogenic bioreactor to treat wastewater. The organic material
in the waste produces power and treated water, transforming
wastewater treatment from an energy-intensive, cost-intensive and
carbon-intensive process, into an energy-generating and
carbon-reducing process.
The benefits are both economic and environmental: Conventional
wastewater treatment uses 2 percent of global power capacity
(80,000 megawatts and 57,000,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide),
costing $40 billion per year. Rather than using conventional
energy-intensive aerobic processes or methane-producing anaerobic
digestion to treat wastewater, Emefcy harvests renewable energy
directly from the wastewater and feeds it to the power grid,
enabling the energy-positive wastewater treatment plant. The
primary initial applications are for wastewater treatment in the
food, beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, with total
market potential of US$10 billion annually.
Energy Technology Ventures was joined in the funding round for
Emefcy by Pond Venture Partners, Plan B Ventures and Israel
Cleantech Ventures. Financial details were not disclosed.
“We will use Energy Technology Ventures’ investment to continue
development of our technology into full-scale commercial
implementation by the end of this year for municipal and industrial
wastewater treatment,” said Emefcy’s CEO, Eytan Levy. “All told,
wastewater treatment is a US$100 billion industry, and our
technology can significantly reduce the economic and environmental
costs.”
One of the partners in Energy Technology Ventures, GE, is active
in wastewater treatment and is expanding its technology focus on
Israel, called the “Silicon Valley of water technology.
Israel is an important center for innovation and scientific
discovery. GE this month opened its newest multi-disciplinary
Research and Development Center, in Haifa. A dozen researchers will
be hired to evaluate and work on clean energy, water and healthcare
technology projects. The new Israel Technology Center will
facilitate the introduction of advanced technologies to GE through
partnerships with local technology companies and academia.
The GE investment was made through business unit GE Energy
Financial Services, which has made one other investment in an
Israeli technology company — SolarEdge, a provider of smart,
holistic solar photovoltaic power harvesting and monitoring
solutions for maximum energy and cost efficiency. SolarEdge is
based in Hod Hasharon, Israel.
About Emefcy
Emefcy www.emefcy.com was founded in early 2008, by
serial water technology entrepreneurs Eytan Levy and Ronen
Shechter, who also founded AqWise www.aqwise.com Marked as
one of the most promising water technology start-up companies,
Emefcy is a laureate of many technology leadership awards such as
Guardian’s Cleantech 100, Global Water Technologies top 10, Artemis
Top 50 and more.
About Energy Technology Ventures
Energy Technology Ventures is a joint venture involving GE
(NYSE: GE), NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP)
focused on the development of next-generation energy technologies.
Bringing together three market-leading companies with a wide range
of deep technical and financial expertise, relationships, services
and products, the joint venture invests in, and offers commercial
collaboration opportunities to, venture- and growth-stage energy
technology companies in the renewable power generation, smart grid,
energy efficiency, oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear energy,
emission controls, water and biofuels sectors, primarily in North
America, Europe and Israel. For more information, visit
www.energytechnologyventures.com.
About GE Energy Financial Services
GE Energy Financial Services’ experts invest globally with a
long-term view, backed by the best of GE’s technical know-how,
financial strength and rigorous risk management, across the capital
spectrum, in one of the world’s most capital-intensive industries,
energy. GE Energy Financial Services helps its customers and GE
grow through new investments, strong partnerships and optimization
of its US $21 billion in assets. GE Energy Financial Services is
based in Stamford, Connecticut. For more information, visit
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is an advanced technology, services and finance
company taking on the world’s toughest challenges. Dedicated to
innovation in energy, health, transportation and infrastructure, GE
operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000
people worldwide. For more information, visit the company’s Web
site at www.ge.com.
Editor‘s Note:
STILL PHOTO ATTACHED
Contacts:
Andy Katell, GE Energy Financial Services
+1-203-961-5773
Ely Cohen, Emefcy
+972-4-627-7555
.
Tags: Caesarea, Energy Technology Ventures And Emefcy Ltd, Israel, June 28
