Just a bit more info on this announcement in FLC's...

Just a bit more info on this announcement in FLC's weibo:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rHToUKLxcMyClAZE6XsPBg

There is a bit more information on where the upgrading plant is situated and the incremental capacity.

"...the Maoji project is located in Huainan City, Anhui Province. The original sewage treatment plant will be upgraded from 15,000 m3/d to 20,000 m3/d. It is expected that the test and commissioning will be completed and put into operation by the end of April 2022."

According to the 2016 census Maoji district has a population of about 133,000. I suppose this increment of WWTP capacity is badly needed. What interest me is the upgrade requires 24 SUBRE tower to achieve the 20,000 m3/d capacity to produce class 1A effluent. Comparing that to the SP3 at Sihanoukville, SP3 requires 90 SUBRE towers. As for the equipment cost, it is US$1m for 24 towers in Anhui vs US$8.5m for 90 towers for Cambodia. Margin wise, both are expected to be similar in the high 30s percent. So it seems like selling outside China is more lucrative dollar for items with the same margin.

"China's latest five-year plan pointed out that during the planning period, it plans to increase sewage treatment capacity, including the expansion and upgrading of water plants, and the number of people served will reach 160 million, of which about 75% of the sewage will need to be treated as a water source for reuse. This will require the treatment of existing water plants to fully meet the Level 1 A standard of the Pollutant Discharge Standard for Urban Sewage Treatment Plants. The proportion of reused water will vary from 25% to 35% depending on the local water shortage. The plan also emphasizes the need for energy saving and low carbon, which will also be a major advantage of MABR technology!"

This is indeed a market segment open up for the MABR players as we are able to increase the capacity of the WWTP without additional footprint; energy saving, low carbon and low chemical usage. The target to serve 160 million population will be 1000 times of this current project, which opens up to a market size of US$1b for the next 5 years. Assuming the pie is equally shared amongst Zeelung, Oxymem and us (I am sure they are still way behind), our factory capacity may not be able to keep up with the demand of US$330m on top of other demands for Aspirals ... let's hope.

http://www.maoji.gov.cn/zxzx/ztzl/ggzyjy/zfcg/jyxx/8053055.html
In the tender notice for this project, it was a competitive tender and the project duration is expected to be 180 days. So if our partner could complete and start the operation by the end of April 2022, it will give them 4 months to stabilize and collect data. I feel this could be a pilot project and more to follow if it is well executed.