RONAN, Mont. — Montana Technologies LLC and GE Vernova have agreed to a joint venture to incorporate GE Vernova’s proprietary sorbent materials into systems that utilize Montana’s patented AirJoule dehumidification, air conditioning, and atmospheric water-harvesting technology.
Pending customary closing conditions, the transaction is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of this year.
Montana Technologies is an atmospheric thermal-energy and water-harvesting technology company. GE Vernova is a global energy company.
The joint venture will manufacture and supply products that incorporate the combined technologies to OEMs and customers in the Americas, Africa, and Australia, a press release from Montana said. It will also leverage Montana’s supply agreement with BASF, which is expected to supply the new sorbent materials at production scale.
The joint venture follows the recent execution of an agreement between Montana and Carrier Corp. to commercialize AirJoule technology in Carrier’s HVAC products throughout the Americas, Europe, India, and the Middle East.
“We are excited that the combination of proprietary water-harvesting technologies developed by GE Vernova’s advanced research team with Montana’s AirJoule system represents a major breakthrough in air-conditioning and air-to-water generation,” said Rob Duffy, vice president of business development at GE Vernova, in the release. “Our joint venture with Montana is an opportunity to make an important impact on our world, our environment, and our future.”
Combining GE Vernova’s sorbents and coating processes with Montana’s AirJoule technology is expected to improve the water-harvesting efficiency of the AirJoule system. The AirJoule system utilizes a self-regenerating pressure-swing adsorption method to harvest thermal energy and pure water from air. Incorporating GE Vernova’s sorbent innovations into this system has the potential to reduce electricity consumption as compared to conventional air-conditioning cooling systems and result in a corresponding reduction in carbon emissions as well as a reduction, or in some cases elimination, of refrigerants, the Montana press release said. In addition, the combined technologies can harvest pure water from air at low cost, offering a potential solution to water scarcity around the world.
“We are looking forward to the opportunity to join together with GE Vernova,” said Matt Jore, CEO of Montana. “The sorbent and coating innovations developed by the GE Vernova advanced research team combined with the AirJoule system developed at Montana represent an opportunity to accelerate the energy-water nexus frontier, thereby reducing the cost and carbon footprint byproducts of air conditioning and fostering the cost-effective production of pure water from air.”