Retrofit is very long lead. Adding in the MABR units from either Fluence or DuPont/Suez changes the hydrodynamics of the initial plant, so at the moment most sites where installations have occurred are under multiple year case studies. I've seen some concerns voiced about long term additional expenses related to the Suez MABR units. In the US they are very, very conservative with changing technology, so will take a while to adopt across the country at a municipal level.
Oxymem/DuPont were having some success in Saudi Arabia in partnership with Saudi Aramco. Not long after Saudi Aramco approved Oxymem MABR for use at Saudi Amaco sites, DuPont bought them out. It possibly means that they have an advantage or better resilience to higher COD industrial wastewaters than Fluence SUBRE currently does. But then it depends what the cost comparison is between Oxymem/DuPont and Fluence SUBRE if those same units are used at a municipal level.
Would prefer to stay away from that anyway at this stage of the company life cycle, as being rated for industrial strength wastewater will add in a lot of testing and compliance requirements and complexities. SUBRE would have to give assurances over 10 to 15 years when exposed to a multitude of chemicals and acidic wastewaters and to me that just sounds like more time and $$$. DuPont can fund the fight vs MBR for industrial applications themselves and if they make some headway then Fluence can start to investigate further. Plenty of opportunity (multi-billion $) in just the decentralized municipal space.
Fluence SUBRE greenfield (or MABR concrete plants) are the ideal. Flexible size and design, good revenue and margin for Fluence.
Aspirals help with the bulk contracts and establishing seed units at a low risk to the end user at a relatively low investment price for new technology and can be deployed very quickly if required.
Around October 2019, Oxymem/DuPont and Suez had a grand total of zero (0) operational sites in China combined. Not sure if that has changed but haven't seen any news to indicate it had.
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