New Energy Water Treatment Solutions: Ultra-Pure Water & Zero Liquid Discharge Tech

I. Introduction: new opportunities for water treatment in the new energy industry

Core point:

 • New energy industry (photovoltaic, hydrogen, lithium batteries, etc.) of the explosive growth, giving rise to high purity water treatment, wastewater reuse, zero discharge and other new demand.

 • Policy-driven: the global “double carbon” goal, new energy projects mandatory supporting environmental protection water treatment facilities (such as the “State encourages the development of major environmental protection technology and equipment catalog (2023)” clearly support the photovoltaic wastewater treatment technology).

II. Water Treatment Demand Analysis for New Energy Industry

1. Photovoltaic Industry

Core demand:

 • Ultra-pure water: solar panel cleaning requires water with resistivity >18MΩ-cm 3.

 • Fluorine-containing wastewater treatment: the fluorine concentration of photovoltaic cutting fluid   wastewater is as high as 1500mg/L, which needs to be resourceful and recovered (e.g. calcium fluoride crystallization technology).

2. Hydrogen industry

 • Green hydrogen electrolysis: rely on ultrapure water (resistivity > 100,000Ω-cm), municipal water reuse / desalination has become the mainstream water source.

 • Case: Sinopec Xinjiang Kuqa green hydrogen project, average daily water consumption of 4000m³, supporting EDI + reverse osmosis system.

3. Lithium battery industry

 • Wastewater characteristics: containing nickel, cobalt and other high-value metals, membrane separation + MVR evaporation crystallization process recovery.

 • Technology trend: lithium wastewater “near zero discharge” program (such as the Ningde Times project).

Ⅲ. Water treatment equipment application scenarios and technology cases

1. Photovoltaic industry

Equipment program:

 • Ultra-pure water system: RO+EDI+polishing mixed bed (case: a photovoltaic plant water saving 30%)

 • Fluorine-containing wastewater treatment: fluidized bed crystallization technology of Zhanqing Environmental Protection (fluorine recovery rate > 90%).

2. Hydrogen industry

Core equipment:

 • Desalination: SWRO reverse osmosis (Middle East Green Hydrogen Project)

 • Municipal reuse: ultrafiltration + secondary RO (preferred for inland projects).

3. Wind energy/biomass energy

 • Cooling water treatment: scale inhibitor + intelligent dosing system (reduce maintenance cost)

 • Biogas wastewater: anaerobic ammonia oxidation process (case: 85% COD removal rate in a biomass power plant in Europe)

IV. Technical Challenges and Future Directions

1. Current Challenges

 • High purity water stability: green hydrogen electrolysis is sensitive to water quality fluctuations and requires a real-time monitoring system.

 • High-salt wastewater treatment: PV/LiPo wastewater salinity >5%, traditional membranes are easy to be fouled.

2. Innovation Direction

 • Low-carbon technology: PV+wastewater plant model (e.g. Wuhan Beihu project generates 22 million degrees per year).

 • Intelligent: AI predictive maintenance (e.g. cooling tower fouling early warning system).

V. Market Opportunities and Cooperation Suggestions

1. Blue Ocean Market

 • Hydrogen water treatment: China's green hydrogen demand will reach 37.15 million tons in 2030, giving rise to a 10 billion water treatment market7.

 • Photovoltaic wastewater: 40% of new photovoltaic plants around the world need to be equipped with fluorine recovery equipment6.

2. Cooperation Mode

 • Technology bundling: water treatment enterprises and new energy manufacturers bidding (such as “photovoltaic plant + wastewater reuse” package program).