Partnership extends OceanWell’s global efforts to provide sustainable water to coastal areas

NICE, France, Jan. 15, 2026 — , a water technology firm, and Eau d’Azur, the public utility overseeing water and sanitation services for the 51 municipalities of the Nice Metropolis, have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to carry out the first deployment of its subsea water farm tech in France.

This testing will kick off this year and will assess OceanWell’s deep-sea freshwater collection technology, which operates at depths exceeding 400 meters (1,300 feet). By leveraging the ocean’s natural pressure to drive reverse osmosis, each of OceanWell’s modular pods can collect up to 4,000m³ of freshwater daily. This method is intended to cut energy needs versus conventional desalination while minimizing concentrated brine release and harm to marine ecosystems.

Robert Bergstrom, CEO of OceanWell: “Ensuring our water future is a global challenge, and it requires solutions that collaborate with nature instead of opposing it. From California to the Côte d’Azur, our subsea water farms are built to offer a dependable, climate-resilient supply without the environmental toll of conventional desalination. This partnership represents another stride toward our aim of providing large-scale sustainable water to coastal communities across the globe.

Arnaud Rostan, Interim Director General at Eau d’Azur: “This agreement will allow us to explore new methods to diversify and safeguard the region’s water supply—key concerns amid the increasing challenges posed by climate change.”

Hervé Laubertie, CEO of Team Nice Côte d’Azur: “OceanWell’s presence in our area highlights the enormous potential of Nice Côte d’Azur in the Blue Economy. By nurturing partnerships with major local stakeholders like Régie Eau d’Azur, we can boost economic growth while helping to protect our oceans — a top priority for our region and the entire planet.”

This partnership was initiated during an economic mission to California in June 2024, when Team Nice Côte d’Azur recognized the significant potential of OceanWell’s innovative solution for the area. With support from Team Nice Côte d’Azur and local partners, OceanWell chose Nice for its globally focused maritime tech ecosystem and its strategic technical alliance with Régie Eau d’Azur (REA). To advance the project, OceanWell has set up its European headquarters in Nice, OceanWell France SAS, which has received financial backing from the Business Landing program of Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur.

The partnership with Eau d’Azur extends OceanWell’s reach beyond North America, where the firm is progressing Water Farm 1 in California’s Santa Monica Bay alongside seven water agencies. These initiatives align with OceanWell’s mission to deploy subsea water farms that can augment stressed water supplies around the world.

This new location lays the groundwork for a future Mediterranean Water Farm demonstrator aimed at securing a dependable supply of high-quality freshwater while preserving marine biodiversity. The initial deployment will last roughly 12 months starting in 2026 and will involve an environmental impact assessment, marine ecosystem monitoring, and site-specific engineering studies to guide a possible commercial rollout between 2028 and 2030.

For more information about OceanWell, visit the and follow on .

About OceanWell

OceanWell has created a modular subsea water farm solution that utilizes the ocean’s natural hydrostatic pressure, at depths exceeding 400 meters, to produce freshwater sustainably. This technology merges energy efficiency (up to 40% lower consumption compared to desalination), marine environmental stewardship (no discharge of strong brine), and ease of deployment (modular scalability, requiring no significant land use.) This eliminates the legacy technology burdens of desalination: high energy use, high cost, ecological impact, and a large industrial seaside facility.

Supported by Kubota Corporation, OceanWell is an alumnus of the European Water Tech Accelerator and BCG’s Social Impact Accelerator, a participant in XPRIZE’s Water Scarcity competition, and is backed by a working group of 25 California water agencies. To learn more, visit . 

About Eau d’Azur

Stretching between the sea and mountains, the 51 municipalities that make up Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur span 1,479 km². Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur operates across multiple sectors: economic development, transport, housing, waste collection and treatment, water and sanitation management, roads, public lighting, parking, ski resorts, marinas, urban planning and geographical IT systems. It has also expanded its activity to cover all roadways, school transport, ZEA sites (zones d’activités économiques).

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SOURCE: OceanWell