A new grant strengthens Danish water solutions and helps companies move from idea to market.

The Danish Board of Business Development (Danmarks Erhvervsfremmebestyrelse) has just announced a new national investment in the Danish Business Lighthouses (erhvervsfyrtårne) for the third time. For the Lighthouse for water (vandfyrtårnet), this means a total grant of DKK 41.2 million – of which Clean has secured DKK 26.7 million targeted at concrete innovation collaborations with water technology SMV’er.

The purpose is simple: to help Danish companies develop, test and mature new water technology solutions faster. This applies both within water-intensive industries and work with terrænnært grundvand, two areas where there is growing demand for efficient, climate-friendly and operationally stable solutions.

SMV’er in the lead through strong partnerships

In the Lighthouse for water, a series of concrete innovation collaborations are launched, where companies, utilities and research environments work together on real challenges in the water sector. The idea is that those facing the challenge and those able to solve it work side by side from the start – and that the companies themselves help define direction and needs.

• SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) take a leading role in development and gain access to test facilities in real-world environments
• water companies and water-intensive industries contribute concrete needs and act as challenge owners
• universities and GTS-institutes (Godkendte Teknologiske Serviceinstitutter) provide research capacity, data and advanced test infrastructure

The partners consists, among others, of UltraAqua, TEMCompany, Consibio, OxyGuard, Mutag, CWT-Nordic, E-CIP Concept, CETO Innovation, Plastix, Stokholm Maskinfabrik, KIRT x THOMSEN,Vand og Teknik, S. Sørensen and SulfiLogger – together with utilities, industries and research environments such as DTU, Aarhus Universitet, Teknologisk Institut, Lemvig Vand, Aarhus Vand and FORS.

It is a strong mix of technology developers, utilities and research institutions – exactly the combination needed to solve complex challenges in the water sector.

Klimatorium and Water Valley Denmark were key actors in the Lighthouse for water’s previous phase and have contributed to the development of the innovation and test environments that the current effort builds on.

As Denmark’s national cluster for water and environment, Clean acts as the overall operator of the Lighthouse for water. We ensure progress, coordination and coherence across all actors and activities, so the effort creates the greatest possible value for companies and for the sector as a whole.

The effort is made possible through funding from the Danish Board of Business Development, which supports the continued development of strong Danish business positions through the Business Lighthouses initiative.

Previous results

Since 2022, the Lighthouse for water has generated valuable experience and built a strong foundation for collaboration and testing. This is also why Denmark continues to invest in water technology: the area creates new jobs, strengthens exports and addresses urgent societal challenges – from climate change to resource scarcity.

Among the most important experiences and results are:

• stronger collaboration between SMEs, utilities, industry and research environments
• establishment and use of test and demonstration environments that support scaling and commercialisation
• progress in digital water solutions, data access and circular plastics
• a solid basis for phase 3 with fewer, but more targeted and committed innovation collaborations, where a larger share of the funding is paid out directly to the companies

Video by Aarhus Vand A/S

A strong example of the value for SMEs

The robotics company RobSub is a clear example of how the Lighthouse for water helps SMEs move closer to market. Through the test and demonstration programme, the company gained access to unique facilities at Aarhus Vand A/S, where their prototype for automated assembly of drinking water pipelines was tested in realistic conditions.

The test provided valuable feedback from utilities, contractors and practitioners in the field – insights that have been crucial for developing a solution that improves the working environment and makes pipeline work safer and more climate-friendly.

For RobSub, the Lighthouse for water thus became a direct shortcut from idea to market-relevant prototype: access to test environments, sparring, data and collaboration with potential customers – and an example of the type of targeted innovation collaborations that are in focus in phase 3.

With the new grant, the Lighthouse for water can build on the foundation and strengthen the development of sustainable, digital and commercially strong water technologies in the coming years.

We are very pleased with the grant for the Lighthouse for water. It enables us to intensify collaboration between SMEs, utilities, industry and research environments and to boost innovation across the entire water sector. The grant strengthens our shared vision that Denmark should be world-leading in water.

— Michael Johansen, Udviklingschef, Clean

Read more about the Lighthouses here.

The Lighthouse for water is part of Virksomhedsudvikling Danmark and is co-financed by the Danish Board of Business Development and the European Union.

The image used is AI-generated.