Cambrian Innovation launches US$30m fund to finance distributed clean water solutions

Cambrian Innovation, provider of biotechnology solutions for industrial partners, launched a financing vehicle for distributed clean water and energy solutions backed by a US$30M fund.

Under the new financing mechanism, called a water-energy purchase agreement (WEPA), growing industrial businesses will be able to enjoy the benefits of onsite wastewater treatment and clean energy generation by simply paying an affordable monthly fee based on usage. The first-of-its-kind financing model is poised to drive widespread adoption of distributed clean water and energy solutions that can reshape today’s industrial infrastructure.

Cambrian Innovation is the maker of the EcoVolt® product suite, a set of modular solutions that extract clean energy and water from wastewater with advanced biotechnology. The containerized EcoVolt products are installed onsite at food and beverage companies, seamlessly fitting into and scaling with business operations. Through the WEPA, Cambrian will finance, install and operate EcoVolt systems on the customer’s behalf, and sell back clean energy and clean water on a take-or-pay model. Customers convert what was previously an environmental liability into a source of on-going financial and environmental benefit, with zero capital outlay and no operating risk.

“We are incredibly excited to be leading the way in providing creative financing solutions to address the challenges in the water-energy nexus,” said Cambrian Innovation CEO Matthew Silver. “The WEPA is an exciting new vehicle that makes it easier for industrial businesses to extract the hidden resources of value in what were previously considered liabilities, with zero capital outlay or operating risk. It’s a win for customers facing soaring water-management costs and investors keen on accessing the fast-growth industrial water sector.”

The WEPA concept is based on the successful power purchase agreement (PPA) deployed in the solar industry during the past decade. The PPA is widely credited with unlocking massive growth in solar initiatives at the consumer level. The WEPA allows customers to transfer the risk of treatment and increasingly strict wastewater compliance to Cambrian, while hedging against rising water costs, and enjoying financial and environmental benefits.

The WEPA is available exclusively from Cambrian Water, the service-based water division of Cambrian Innovation, starting immediately.