The government funding round for which the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia (NCEDA) was preparing a proposal has been suspended pending a review, which will take till March 2015.
The Australian government suspended Round 17 of the Co-operative Research Centres Program pending the review, which will start in July.
According to NCEDA chief Neil Palmer, the centre has funding to support the completion of the remaining research program (38 projects are still in progress), which will be finalised by June 2016.
“We have approached our 14 research partners to support us so that we can continue to develop and communicate Australia’s desalination capability,” Palmer writes in the centre’s June issue of Desal Directions, “and we are negotiating with our new industry partners to deliver the desalination research they need through the NCEDA.
“There is a need to maintain good R&D in Australia,” says Palmer. “Given the huge growth in desalination worldwide, Australia’s opportunity to participate has never been greater.”