Australian water purification technology Virtual Curtain continues to bed down a slew of agreements with Chinese state-owned enterprises and prominent companies, announcing two deals within two months.
Virtual Curtain China Limited, the China-focussed division of Virtual Curtain, has arranged a binding arrangement with Zhong Ao Huan Neng (ZAHN), which will see ZAHN assist in securing large-scale projects, and has also completed a strategic cooperation framework with Daqing Energy, providing the company with an 18-month exclusivity period to secure technology to treat processing wastewater.
Virtual Curtain has worked with CSIRO since 2008 and developed a proprietary water purification technology that is specifically suitable for mining and industrial runoff.
The technology can remediate and neutralise above or below surface contaminated wastewaters, effectively transforming acidic or geochemically-complex wastewaters into clean water.
The strategic cooperation agreement with Daqing Energy represents a significant opportunity for Virtual Curtain China Limited, with the company seeking to introduce treatment technology to process Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer wastewater, which is produced by Daqing at its onshore operations, located in the Daqing Oilfields, the largest onshore oilfields in China.
We have been working closely with Daqing Energy and the relationship we have built with such a prominent SOE as a flagship client in the petroleum sector is significant,” said Virtual Curtain China Limited director, Kent Matla.
“This is an important step forward in our strategy to secure flagship clients in our target wastewater sectors like nuclear, mining and minerals, coal-to-chemicals, and petroleum and petrochemicals,” he said.
The Chinese region represents a major target for water purification companies. The Middle Kingdom is the largest producer of wastewater globally, and the wastewater treatment market is valued at approximately A$55 billion.
Key to the wastewater industry is the “Ten Measures of Water Policy” introduced by the Chinese government, which imposes stricter water quality and efficiency regulations, which are particularly relevant to the domestic resources industry.
As environmental regulations deepen, companies such as Virtual Curtain are anticipated to extract more significant and lucrative deals from large state-owned enterprises.
