Another to watch from BridgeWorks: C-Water

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C-Water has the potential to reduce the need for water-fed cooling at power plants.

Although it just closed the sale of a Colorado solar startup to General Electric and it recently launched a new wave and wind energy technology company, Lake Oswego's BridgeWorks Capital is far from finished.

BridgeWorks President Mark Waller founded C-Water Technologies Inc. in July to commercialize a water intake technology for power plants developed by CH2M Hill.

Power plants require large amounts of cooling water to condense steam to drive turbines, often impacting aquatic life. The federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act, however, will require utilities seeking new water permits to show that they’ve adopted the best available technology capable of reducing the impact on aquatic species.

Waller said that utilities over the next decade could collectively invest $100 billion in land-based cooling towers that recirculate water.

C-Water and CH2M Hill are working together to commercialize AquaSweep technology, which provides the same function of a cooling tower but with a smaller size and expense.

Waller said the device will meet regulatory guidelines while requiring 70 percent less capital than a cooling tower and avoiding the need to shut down operations for a long period.

The technology has already caught the eye of the EPA and several utilities interested in pilot projects. Waller said the technology this week will start a second round of testing at an independent lab in Massachusetts.

@ErikSiemers | esiemers@bizjournals.com | 503.219.3418