Center of Water Efficiency Excellence established by Kemira and VTT

Kemira Oyj and Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT will establish a joint initiative, Center of Water Efficiency Excellence, which will bring together Finnish water expertise. The goal of the center is to build new and unique water knowledge in Finland and to create new business opportunities for companies within the environmental technology sector.

– The aim is to develop new technologies, which help to enhance water usage and recycling while creating more sustainable and energy-efficient solutions for water intensive industries, says Johan Grön, Head of R&D at Kemira.

According to Grön the research sectors are concentrated on the cost-efficient process of turning sea water into drinkable water and the utilization of biomass resulting from the waste water treatment in production processes of energy and bio energy. Global problems caused by water scarcity especially in rapidly growing population centres demand a more effective means of water usage. The new Center for Water Efficiency Excellence is trusted to bring new solutions for dealing with the challenges of water scarcity.

The center is expected to employ about 200 experts annually. The total cost of the water related research carried out at the center is estimated at 120 million euros. The external investments will be distributed for four years, resulting in further investments for pilot and demo projects.

www.kemira.com