HydroRevolution Announces A Direct Public Offering To Construct California's First Solar Desalination Plant
HydroRevolutionSM announces the issuance of $10 million of preferred stock in a state-registered California Direct Public Offering (DPO). --- Proceeds from the sale of securities will be used for the construction of a commercial solar desalination plant in California's Central Valley. --- HydroRevolutionSM is the first and only desalination plant in the country to offer shares to the general public through a DPO and is one of the 10 largest investment crowdfunding campaigns on record1.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8, 2015 -- WaterFX Hydro I, Inc., dba HydroRevolutionSM, a California subsidiary of WaterFX, today announced the filing of a Direct Public Offering (DPO) for the construction of a solar-powered desalination plant in California's Central Valley. Water produced by the plant is fully committed and will be purchased by local water agencies for deliveries beginning in late 2016. By using the sun to recycle a nearly limitless source of saltwater back into usable freshwater, HydroRevolutionSM is developing a sustainable and reliable water supply for California. Once constructed, HydroRevolutionSM will be the largest solar desalination plant in North America.
This marks the first time a DPO has been used for a desalination project and made the purchase of dividend-yielding shares available to the general public. Profits from the sale of water will be distributed through a dividend to preferred shareholders. "We can shape the future when it comes to water and this public offering allows professional investors, as well as individuals, to directly participate in delivering a sustainable source of water in California," said Aaron Mandell, Chairman of WaterFX and Member of the Board of HydroRevolutionSM. "Being a part of this water revolution will provide more than just a financial return, it will put California on a course towards water independence," continued Mr. Mandell.
The DPO is a State of California registered Qualification by Permit (permit #3499), regulated through the Department of Business Oversight. This investment platform enables HydroRevolutionSM to sell shares to both accredited and non-accredited investors in California. The company is issuing $10 million of preferred equity and anticipates raising $20 million in debt financing for the construction of the project. In keeping with the company's open source philosophy, participation in the HydroRevolution project is open to the California public and the company will be majority owned by California residents upon close of the campaign. The investment is also open to organizations, foundations and corporations based in California.
The company is offering up to 2,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred stock at a price of $5 per share. The HydroRevolution DPO has several investment benefits, including a fixed annual yield, just like a public stock dividend, and protections that ensure proceeds are only deployed for construction of the plant. The minimum investment in HydroRevolutionSM is $2,000 (400 shares) for non-accredited investors and $5,000 (1,000 shares) for accredited investors. The stock is non-voting and provides a 6% annual dividend. Proceeds from the DPO are to be held in a third party managed impound account until the company meets pre-determined conditions. The DPO campaign will run for a period of up to one year, but may be terminated early once the offering has been fully subscribed.
The HydroRevolutionSM plant is the first commercial solar desalination plant to be constructed in California. At full scale, the plant will occupy up to 100 acres of land in the Panoche Water and Drainage District and produce 5,000 acre-feet of freshwater per year, enough water to satisfy 10,000 homes or irrigate 2,000 acres of cropland. The system is capable of treating water with greater than 90% recovery rate, isolating salt and mineral by-products for downstream commercial uses. The plant expands on the demonstration project operated by WaterFX in 2013 in the Panoche Water and Drainage District. The expansion will utilize clean, solar energy to treat irrigation drainage water from 6,000 acres of salt-impaired cropland and generate a new supply of freshwater for the district. WaterFX is providing the technology for the project and will service and operate the plant through a partnership with ATSI Engineering.
Unlike conventional desalination plants, HydroRevolutionSM will not treat seawater; rather it will draw from a replenishing supply of shallow irrigation water, known as subsurface drainage water, which has previously been unusable. Irrigation drainage water is a natural consequence of agricultural activities but poses a serious threat to cropland, wildlife and waterways in the Central Valley as its high salinity content can damage freshwater ecosystems. By treating this source of water, HydroRevolutionSM will help farmers solve two difficult problems: obtaining a consistent and reliable source of freshwater and restoring impaired ecosystems. Without this solution, an additional 10% of farmland in California will have to be retired every year to create additional storage for untreated drainage water.
Behind the HydroRevolutionSM plant is the Aqua4 technology, a concentrated solar still developed by WaterFX, that harnesses the energy from the sun to produce thermal energy, which powers the distillation process. As the solar receivers capture solar thermal energy, mineral oil is heated and carries thermal energy to the heat pump that optimizes energy efficiency and feeds heat to a multi-effect distillation system (MED). The MED evaporates freshwater from the water source and the condensate is recovered in the form of purified water. The system is capable of freshwater recovery rates higher than 90%, the remaining brine is further treated to isolate salt and mineral by-products and eliminate liquid discharge.
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