BW Offshore launches BW Elara - floating desalination solutions powered by BW
Water technology
BW Offshore and BW Group have established a 50/50 joint venture entity (JV), BW
Elara, to design and build Floating Desalination Units (FDUs), producing fresh
water from salt water to address growing global water constraints. The FDUs will
combine BW Offshore's experience from developing over 40 floating production
units with BW Water's 35-year desalination expertise to offer a rapidly
deployable fresh water solution.
BW Offshore will oversee the overall FDU project execution, including hull
design and construction, and system integration, and will co-invest alongside a
company affiliated with BW Group; and BW Water will design and build the
desalination plant using its custom-engineered reverse osmosis systems.
Access to fresh water is an emerging global challenge. While permanent
infrastructure remains the typical long-term solution, there is a widening gap
between immediate water requirements and availability in many areas. This
challenge is particularly acute in mid-size municipal and industrial settings,
where existing emergency water supply options such as containerised units are
insufficient to meet demand, while large onshore desalination plants take too
long to address urgent needs.
Developed over the last two years on proven technology, the FDU concept offers a
flexible and scalable solution to bridge that gap. A ready-built FDU can be
deployed and fully operational within as little as three months from contract
signing. The modular unit can supply 20 to 40 million litres of drinking water
per day. It is ideal for urgent deployment in response to droughts, delays in
land-based desalination projects and temporary industrial demand spikes. The JV
sees clear market potential underpinning our intention to develop and operate a
multi-regional fleet over time.
"The formation of BW Elara is testament to the wide-ranging capabilities of the
BW network, leveraging synergies between our affiliates. This partnership
combines BW Offshore's capabilities with BW Water's desalination expertise to
address the world's growing fresh water demand", says Andreas Sohmen-Pao,
Chairman of BW Group.
"Applying our extensive offshore engineering and operations expertise to
developing new floating transition solutions is a strategic focus area for BW
Offshore. Together with BW Water, we will tackle this challenge with innovative
solutions, and thereby seek to deliver long-term value," says Marco Beenen, CEO
of BW Offshore.
"Floating Desalination Units fill a critical gap between emergency relief and
long-term infrastructure investments in today's market for water desalination
solutions," says Matthew White, Executive Chairman of BW Water. "We combine an
efficient modular design with a proprietary seawater intake system and a
flexible service supply model. Our solution has generated strong interest from
potential clients globally in both municipal and industrial sectors."
For more information, please visit [www.bwelara.com (https://www.bwelara.com)]
-end-
About BW Offshore
BW Offshore engineers innovative floating production solutions. The Company has
a fleet of FPSOs and floating wind solutions. By leveraging four decades of
offshore operations and project execution, the Company creates tailored offshore
energy solutions for evolving markets worldwide. BW Offshore has around 900
employees and is publicly listed on the Oslo stock exchange. bwoffshore.com
(https://www.bwoffshore.com/)
About BW Group
BW Group is a leading global maritime company involved in shipping, floating
infrastructure, deepwater oil & gas production, and new sustainable
technologies. BW controls a fleet of over 450 vessels transporting oil, gas and
dry commodities, with its 200 LNG and LPG ships constituting the largest gas
fleet in the world. In the renewables space, the group has investments in wind,
batteries, and water treatment. bw-group.com
About BW Water
BW Water is a leading global provider of full-service water and wastewater
solutions and part of the BW Group. The company has developed over 200 municipal
and industrial installations worldwide. BW Water has around 300 employees and
operates across eight locations globally, with its headquarters in Singapore and
regional hubs in Florida, USA, and Stuttgart, Germany, supporting operations in
the Americas and EMEA regions, respectively. bw-water.com (https://bw-water.com)
For media enquiries, please contact:
Hana Schoon
Senior Manager, Communications
and Branding
Ståle Andreassen
BW Group
Chief Financial Officer
hana.schoon@bw-group.com
BW Offshore (mailto:hana.schoon@bw-group.com)
stale.andreassen@bwoffshore.com communications@bw-group.com
(mailto:communications@bw-
IR@bwoffshore.com (mailto:IR@bwoffshore.com) group.com)
+47 9171 8655 +65 9788 5629
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section
5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act