Desert Control AS

OSE:DSRT

Earnings Call Analysis

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q2

[Ari Greve, executive]

Welcome to the Desert Control Q2 2024 Company Update webcast. It will cover the Q2 report and interim financial results for the fiscal period that ended on June 30, 2024. Some updates for Q3 year-to-date will also be included. A Q&A session will follow the presentation, and we invite you to use the Q&A function to make and submit questions.

Before the Q2 Update agenda, Desert Control CEO will share a brief introduction.

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Thank you. Desert Control specializes in nature-based solutions to combat desertification, soil degradation and water scarcity. Our leading innovation Liquid Natural Clay, LNC, enables sand and light thirsty soils to retain water and nutrients and improves soil health. Our clients span agriculture, landscaping and forestry sectors.

With over 12 years of R&D, complemented by 5 years of independent validation and field pilots, we have established a presence with commercial deployments in the United States and the Middle East, where licensed operator partners extend our reach. Our solutions have proven to save water by 35% to 50%, while simultaneously improving plant health and crop yields.

Thank you for joining us. I am Ole Kristian Sivertsen, CEO of Desert Control, and I will take us through today's agenda for the Q2 and year-to-date company update, which has 4 points. First, I will present highlights and achievements so far this year. Next, our CFO, Leonard, will take us through the financial update. Then I will share a brief outlook before we close with the Q&A session.

We have many exciting updates to share under the Q2 and year-to-date highlights. I will organize the update by first diving into technological breakthroughs and achievements before moving on to progress updates for the United States and the Middle East. I will also share a brief update on ongoing and new validation initiatives as well as the recently announced MoU with Syngenta.

Starting with the technological achievements. In our Q1 update, I highlighted the progress we were making in integrating LNC application with client irrigation systems, a significant advancement over the previous manual approaches. Since then, we've completed 15 LNC deployment projects in the U.S., most of them utilizing this integrated irrigation system approach. This has broadened our application capabilities across various systems and allowed us to streamline and optimize the process further, delivering substantial gains in time, labor and cost efficiency.

With the ability to apply significantly larger volumes in a shorter time frame, it also became clear that our current production systems need to also evolve to keep up with the pace of enhanced application efficiency. This realization led to the development of a prototype for the next-generation LNC production systems platform. Currently, in iterative development and field testing, this prototype has already demonstrated a six-fold increase in operational production capacity compared to the operation of current units in Q2 last year.

In addition to increasing capacity, we also wanted to improve mobility. The existing 20-foot containers can be challenging to maneuver on narrow roads and confined spaces within farms, orchards and golf courses. A 6-ton container unit also requires larger trucks and drivers with commercial licenses, which can increase operational complexity and cost in some projects.

The new prototype overcomes these challenges by being more compact and half the weight, allowing for towage via standard pickup truck, combining increased production capacity and enhanced mobility. The sixfold increase in production capacity significantly extends our project capabilities. While a full golf course size job previously would require a cluster of 4 units over several weeks, the objective of the new design is to be able to do such jobs in a matter of days with a single unit. We've also implemented new processing technology that reduces energy consumption per unit of LNC produced, lowering operational costs and improving the environmental footprint.

Another advancement is the improvement in labor efficiency. The current production units require a minimum of 2 operators per unit with manual input loading of clay and minerals where 25-kilo bags are manually lifted and loaded one by one by the operators. The new prototype is designed for single operator use with automatic input loading systems capable of handling 1-ton big bags. Here, the input loading is done by hoses connected directly to the big bag sucking the clay and minerals directly into the unit with measured dosing. This reduces labor requirements and heavy lifting, improving working conditions and the overall efficiency of the production process.

The amount of time required to execute jobs is also an important aspect. With the new prototype, a pilot deployment that previously may have taken 3 to 4 days with the first day for mobilization, days 2 and 3 for production and application and the final day for demobilization, can now be turned around in a single workday.

Enhancing mobility, production capacity, energy and labor efficiency significantly reduces the overall cost per unit of LNG produced. This will enable us to maintain margins as we scale up for larger deployments, further allowing for more competitive pricing to drive faster and broader adoption and market penetration.

In summary, this prototype concept will significantly improve agility, scalability and unit economics. The next-generation unit aims to deliver more capacity than 4 current units combined at less than half the cost. We anticipate finalizing the prototype design and preparing for commercial manufacturing of units during the first half of 2025. We also plan to develop upgrade kits for existing units to extend their capabilities and value.

In the second quarter, Desert Control completed a record number of installations, driven mainly by the new prototype and successful integration with irrigation system. This has allowed us to complete 15 installations since the Q1 report with 9 of those executed in Q2 alone, up from 3 installations in the first quarter. Our expanded capabilities also contributed to a significant increase in pilot acquisitions with the U.S. project portfolio growing from 29 to 38 projects. We continue to see solid performance in permanent crops like citrus, dates and vineyards. And we've made significant headway in high value markets with golf courses and sports fields.

With a promising early results we are seeing from the Gulf segment, we anticipate fast tracking some of these pilot opportunities to larger contracts by the end of the year. Importantly, we've also seen market acceptance deepened with several projects bypassing initial small-scale testing, moving directly to extended Stage 2 pilots. We're also experiencing more incoming interest, driven by word-of-mouth and positive references from other pilot installations and deployments. This is an important indicator of growing awareness and confidence in our solutions.

Here, we can see our U.S. project portfolio categorized by segment and crop type, showing the progress of these projects through the various stages of our pilot funnel. Our Stage 1 technical pilots focus on validating the LNC technology across various agricultural and landscaping applications. And as these pilots demonstrate success, they advance to Stage 2, where we assess scalability and economic viability in expanded deployments and more commercial context.

Finally, Stage 3 represents the transition to larger scale commercial contracts. Each of these pilots provide significant operational and technology learnings and builds Desert Control's reputation as a high-quality provider of valuable environmental and economic solutions. Most of the ongoing agricultural pilots extend over multiple seasons to validate LNC's multifaceted benefits beyond water savings, including reducing fertilizer leaching, lowering soil salinization, improving soil health and increasing yield.

Pilots in the landscaping segments have a more narrow scope, focusing primarily on water conservation while maintaining healthy grass and plants. As a result, these projects show promise of progressing faster to Stage 3 with some advancing through just a 2-stage process.

I already mentioned our solid progress in permanent crops like citrus, dates and vines. Here, we can see the performance from one of the recent date farm implementations, which bypassed Stage 1 and went directly to Stage 2, where we deployed LNC for more than 600 trees of the 8,000 date palms at this farm. A key component of these pilots is data collection. We use soil sensors and flow meter data to monitor the differences between LNC treated and untreated control areas.

As illustrated in the graph on this slide, the green line represents the LNC-treated area, which consistently maintains higher and more stable soil moisture levels compared to the control area. This indicates that the LNC-treated soil retains more water, which is the vital factor for conserving water while improving crop health and yield.

The value of this type of data collection over a broad range of pilots is twofold. First, it validates the impact of our solution across various crops and application scenarios. And secondly, it helps build the economic business case with documented ROI to support investment in LNC for clients. By demonstrating tangible benefits, we are proving the efficacy of LNC and helping our clients realize significant savings and improved agricultural outcomes.

In the Landscaping segment, we also made significant headway, particularly with golf courses where early results from pilots are highly encouraging. This slide shows data from one of our recent golf course pilots, demonstrating the impact of LNC on key soil metrics such as moisture retention and salinity reduction. On the left, we can see that the LNC-treated areas consistently maintain higher soil moisture, measured by volumetric water content compared to the control, ensuring that water savings can be realized while maintaining healthy grass over time.

In the graph on the right side, you'll notice a significant reduction in soil salinization in the LNC-treated areas. Several of the pilot clients were actually concerned about LNC potentially increasing salinity, and confirming that we achieve the opposite is a significant milestone as lowering soil salinization is a crucial factor for maintaining soil and plant health, which is vital for the golf courses and also for agricultural applications.

The data in the bar charts comes from soil samples with laboratory analysis that we can see also correlates well with the soil sensor data, giving an overall stronger validation of our findings. The data we collect in these pilots validate the effectiveness of LNC in the landscaping segment and strengthens our case for broader adoption across this high-value market.

Let me also underscore that our portfolio of pilots with golf courses has grown to 10 Stage 1 projects and 2 projects in Stage 2. Promising early results are paving the way for a larger golf course contract, which we, as mentioned, anticipate securing by the end of the year with deployments set for 2025.

In the Middle East, we have made substantial progress through our partners in the United Arab Emirates, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. In the UAE, our partner completed the first phase of LNC deployment for a significant residential development project in Abu Dhabi as forecasted in the Q1 report. The second phase is set to commence in the third quarter, and further commercial projects in the landscaping segments have also recently been secured. Several strategic pilots are underway to validate LNC for broader market adoption. Important progress is also being made on integrating LNC into regulatory frameworks, positioning LNC as a preferred solution for soil and water conservation requirements.

Turning to Saudi Arabia. Both of our licensed operators are now fully operational and have initiated pilots and deployments in the Kingdom. Our partners are actively engaging with large-scale urban development projects and conservation initiatives, government and private sector opportunities, which are also progressing. Several notable pilots are planned for the coming quarters. As we look ahead, we anticipate significant growth and momentum, supported by our partnerships and the solid foundation of scientific and government backing we've built over the years. The progress position us to transform from pilot type deployments to more strategic contracts for broader adoption towards the end of the year.

In the second quarter, we also extended our independent validation efforts and entered new partnerships. Starting with independent validation, we continue making progress in our 5-year research program with the University of Arizona. The inaugural interim publication from this program is currently under peer review, and we anticipate publication during the second half of this year. We've also expanded the program with the University of Arizona to a session up in Maricopa, where we see very promising indications that also prove that we can extend the feasibility of LNC deployment to a broader variety of soil types and compositions.

We've also initiated a new partnership with the University of California, Riverside, and their industry-leading Turf Research Center. This collaboration is focused on positioning LNC as a trusted and attractive solution within the Golf and Turf segment. 2 validation projects are already underway, and the first one being at their Turf Research Center with the second one at a prominent golf course. Additionally, a third longer-term study is in the final stages of planning.

On the partnership front, we recently announced a memorandum of understanding with Syngenta, a global leader in agricultural technology. Together, we are exploring the value added from LNC to deployments of Syngenta's advanced biostimulants. Laboratory work is already in progress at our Desert Control Norway lab, and we're planning initial field trials in the Middle East for the second half of the year. This collaboration is expected to pave the way for innovative solution in sustainable agriculture, particularly in regions where soil and water conservation is critical. These partnerships and validation efforts reinforce the credibility and efficacy of LNC and positions Desert Control as a leader in sustainable agriculture and sustainable land management solutions.

Our research and development efforts are also centered around 2 primary objectives, increasing the value of LNC and expanding its market potential. To increase value, we're focused on enhancing LNC's impact beyond water conservation, positioning it as a platform for holistic soil health solutions. This includes addressing critical challenges, like mitigating soil salinity, where we're already seeing very positive results as discussed earlier in the presentation. Another key area is reducing fertilizer leaching, where we see significant potential. We're planning further studies, including independent validation programs to document these benefits in ways that also can support integration with regulatory frameworks.

To expand the addressable markets, we have ongoing exciting R&D programs with promising early results aimed at extending the feasibility of LNC from highly sandy soil to a wider variety of soil types and compositions. Additionally, we're exploring formulations to increase the salinity tolerance of water sources, which will open new markets in regions where water quality is a limiting factor. I look forward to sharing more on our progress in these initiatives in the next company update.

As we wrap up the Q2 and year-to-date update, let's summarize some of the key highlights. First, we achieved significant technological breakthroughs, improving unit economics, streamlining operations and enhancing our readiness for scaling up. This progress directly contributed to our increased traction in the United States, where we achieved a record number of installations, accelerated pilot acquisitions and expanded into high-value markets with great progress for golf course deployments.

In the Middle East, we've solidified our position through strategic projects and progress in regulatory framework integration, a growing number of pilots and deployments and operational readiness in Saudi Arabia for both of our partners. We've also strengthened independent validation efforts with ongoing research collaborations at the University of Arizona and the new initiatives with the University of California Riverside.

In terms of partnerships, we announced a new MoU with Syngenta and have other partnerships currently in development, setting the stage for further collaboration and innovation.

Finally, our R&D initiatives continue to focus on increasing the value of LNC and expanding market feasibility. The achievements of the past quarter positions Desert Control for continued growth as we move forward. And I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our team and our partners for your dedication and great achievements made so far this year.

We will now turn to the financial update, and I pass it over to our CFO, Leonard Chaparian.

[Leonard Chaparian, executive]

Thank you very much, Ole Sivertsen, and good morning to you all. The figures are shared in detail in the financial report published earlier this morning. These financial key figures will be covered in more detail on the following slides. Our LNC revenue has doubled in the first half of this year compared to last year, driven by steady rollout of new projects. The figures also show that the company has strengthened EBITDA by NOK 12.5 million in the first half of the year, while at the same time increasing the number of projects and improving productivity.

Net income, which also includes financial income and expenses, has experienced a net negative change of approximately NOK 5 million in H1 2024 compared to H1 last year, mainly due to fluctuations in exchange rates in the comparable periods. The company closed the second quarter 2024 with a positive cash balance of NOK 91 million and has no interest-bearing debt. These figures include both ongoing and discontinued operations of Desert Control.

LNC revenue in Q2 2024 exceeded NOK 500,000, a significant increase compared to NOK 20,000 in Q2 2023. For the first half of '24, LNC revenue reached nearly NOK 1.8 million up from NOK 850,000 in the first half of 2023, more than doubling year-over-year. This is driven by large-scale deployments and an increased volume of pilots and project installations.

Operational costs have slightly increased in Q2 this year compared to last year. This is mostly due to added expenses related to the closure of our Middle East office, especially in audit and finance areas. However, year-to-date, the overall cost level is slightly lower. Additionally, there has been an increase in operational cost in the U.S. due to more projects and higher activity levels.

During H1, the company has sold off most of its financial assets and reduced its exposure to market fluctuations. Cash and funds in total amounts to NOK 91 million as of the end of Q2 2024, and we have no interest-bearing debt. We are sufficiently funded to support our existing and planned operations. Currently, our financial runway, excluding revenue takes us to Q4 2025. The overall reported equity of NOK 99.9 million equals 94.5% of total assets.

The cash flow from operating activities divided between continued and discontinued operations represent the operational profit and loss, adjusted for depreciation and amortization, underscoring the company's current cash-oriented status. This day, as a standout change in cash flow, the first half year, is the sale of our financial assets. No other significant sources of capital have been added through the first quarter or first half of the year.

As you can see from the discontinued operations, the costs are approaching zero, and we expect to finalize the liquidation of the subsidiary very soon. For further information regarding the Q2 financials, please see the full Q2 report. To get additional information about the Desert Control's share and the top 20 shareholders, please visit our web page, desertcontrol.com/investors.

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Thank you, Leonard. We will now turn to outlook before we close with the Q&A. The outlook remains positive, further strengthened by the achievements of the second quarter. A robust pipeline of pilots and deployments in the United States and the Middle East, combined with progress on integrating LNC into regulatory frameworks, positions Desert Control for continued progress with several initiatives underway to develop a market leadership position in soil and water conservation. We anticipate continued growth in pilots and second stage deployments in agriculture.

The positive traction with golf courses also set the stage for larger contracts in this segment by the end of the year with notable deployments anticipated for 2025. Ongoing technological advancements and successful project deployments strengthen our capabilities for larger scale commercial deployments, enhancing the foundation for substantial long-term value creation for our shareholders and stakeholders.

[Ari Greve, executive]

We will now start the Q&A session, and we invite you to use the Q&A function for the questions. We have some already. The first one is, in Saudi Arabia, they have recently started building several large new parks, which will consist in millions of trees. Is Liquid Natural Clay being considered use in one of more of one of those?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Yes, that's a very good question, and it's absolutely correct that Saudi Arabia is going full force with development with some of the largest park initiatives that we've ever seen. And LNC is definitely one of the technologies that is being considered and being actively fronted into these type of projects by our partners in the region.

[Ari Greve, executive]

We have another question. The main focus for COP26 -- 16 in Riyadh in December is to combat desertification. Do you have any expectation that LNC could be in the spot line as one of the solutions?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Absolutely. I think the focus on solutions for desertification solutions to combat these things is a key focus for that initiative and the conference of the parties. I think there are several arenas where both us, from Desert Control, together with our partners, can showcase and build on successful deployments and references to really make a stronger relevance at that conference. So I'm looking forward to participating there and celebrating my birthday in Riyadh this year.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Yes. We have another question. And first phase of LNC application in residential development in Abu Dhabi has been complete. Is the royalty revenue from this book in the Q2 report 2024 or will we show in the Q2 (sic) [ Q3 ] report 2024?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

It will show in the Q3 report.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Yes. We have another question. Are you considering more licensing partners in [ EMEA ]?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

No, we're currently very happy with the partners that we have in the region, and we know how important it is to really build a solid foundation. So our focus is fully on doing everything that we can to drive continued success and making our partners successful. And I think that is a very, very sound strategy for us at this point.

[Ari Greve, executive]

We don't have more open questions at the moment. We have answered the 4 questions. So if...

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

That means we've been very efficient and given clear messages in our presentation. But we always enjoy these sessions and the Q&A and giving the opportunity for people to ask things that they are curious about. So if there are more questions coming in, we will still take them. If you didn't have the chance and you're looking at this as a recorded session later on, know that you can also send us questions later, and we will include them in the transcript when we publish that, probably by midday tomorrow, at latest.

[Ari Greve, executive]

We have a couple of questions more. Thank you for participating. Yes, we have one here. Congratulations on your progress. Do you anticipate seeing any large-scale LNC projects starting to roll out in 2025?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Thanks for the congratulations. We're very proud of the achievements of the team and also of our partners. So in terms of large-scale Phase 3 or Stage 3 contracts, we anticipate to see some of them signed in the fourth quarter of this year, most likely for the full scale of the implementation and deployment, starting and stretching into 2025. But we're also anticipating additional Phase 2 deployments on the agricultural side and seeing a positive traction with developments of more projects coming online in the Middle East.

[Ari Greve, executive]

We have another question. What experience have you had with LNC in terms of fulfilling still in 4, 5 years on?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Well, we'll see more of the results from that from ongoing validation initiatives. But our experience from the Middle East, where we've, after all spent the most time and been for the longest, makes us very confident in an LNC longevity in undisturbed soils, such as landscapes and permanent crops for the 5-year period that we have previously mentioned. And in areas that are being sort of intensively farmed with tillage and turning and disturbance of the soil, we still need more data to understand the impact on longevity on those areas. But as I say, on the landscaping side and permanent crops, all indications are holding up as previously experienced thing.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Perfect. Okay. We have another question. We've seen there hasn't been much revenue generated from Phase 1 and Phase 2. Will be there more significantly more revenue for Phase 3? And how do you plan to make this profitable? And yes, more profitable, I think that's what he meant to say in this question.

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Yes. Yes. No, good. So I think I've mentioned this before that the Stage 1 technical pilots, they are very small in nature, right? We've had projects of 50 trees or just a couple of hundred square meters, so there is no significant revenue out of these ones. In fact, we should probably be willing to almost have paid money for them because it really gives us a lot of learning, and it helps us to collect data and really broaden the scale. This is what's actually contributed to the enormous developments we've had in application and production scalability improvements. So they are of huge value for us.

So then, as we move to Stage 2 deployments, there is more revenue related to that to at least make sure we are covering our costs. And then we're becoming even stronger on performing on that with the advancements that I've shared that we've had through the first and the second quarter now with much, much shorter deployment times, efficiency, on time, labor, energy, production processes, application through the irrigation systems, et cetera. So we're strengthening our base for profitability also for those areas. But the larger commercial revenues, as you correctly point out, is the stage 3 large-scale deployments.

So that also, if you look at the base of the number of projects we currently have and think about these very small plots where we're demonstrating the efficacy now, they represent small areas of the total addressable market of these farms. I mentioned some 600 trees in one farm with 8,000 trees, for example. We can imagine these golf courses where we're testing this on a green or a tee box or a single fairway, where we can expand this to areas from 90 to 140 acres or 50 hectares in sizes, et cetera, which shows you the significant revenue potential that we will be executing on as we convert these projects into Stage 3.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Perfect. We have another question. What are your expectations for the new Board members?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Well, my expectations for any Board member is a value-added stewardship. I can say that I have really had the pleasure of spending time with our new colleagues. They are extremely passionate about our mission, and they have a lot of valuable experience from different areas that contributes in a very positive way to shaping our strategy and the way that we plan and execute our business going forward. So we're very grateful for having them on Board.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Yes. We have another question. Can you elaborate a bit regarding the process of the alfalfa pilots in the U.S.?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Yes. Alfalfa pilots, we haven't had many alfalfa pilots. It's an area that we have deployed and tested. It was an area when we did the first deployments. That was fairly challenging because the fields are so immensely big, and we didn't have as high production capacity per unit to cover these fields because they are flood-irrigated, so you open the flood gates, and then, you irrigate really, really large areas at a time.

From a performance perspective, we've had some good learnings on the alfalfa side. We have deployed LNC when the fields were already planted. And we've learned that the density of the soil in a field that has already been growing for a couple of years, it's going to take a long time to really saturate the LNC and incorporate it into the soil structure. Took time before we saw the pickup and increased soil moisture in the deeper levels of the soil there. And that has sharpened our approach for how to be able to integrate this with these type of fields going forward, doing it when they're turning the fields. It's a perennial crop that they are on a regular basis turning and shifting. So we've learned a lot from those pilots as well.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Thank you for your reply, Ole. Okay. It says, you may have said, but when we can expect the peer review for the report performed for the University of Arizona to be done?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Yes. So I think those of you who have been in a university setting and been peer reviewers, how you need to get a number of reminders to actually go in there and complete your peer review. So it's difficult to say exactly how long it will take. We submitted, through the university, the publication for peer review also in the period leading into the summer holidays, which makes it naturally take a little bit longer. We've received the first round of comments, the replies to those are in progress and we do anticipate in the coming months here, as I say, in this second half of the year, we anticipate the publication to come online.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Thank you. We have another question. Do you see a need for further capital emissions?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Well, as Leo said in the finance update, we have a current financial runway that takes us to the fourth quarter of next year, which puts us in a fairly good position right now. So we're executing our projects based on that plan. And then sort of the need and if we see opportunities to accelerate certain things, we will always evaluate those kind of opportunities on an ongoing basis.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Thank you for your apply, Ole. And we have these last 2 questions. When do you expect to be cash neutral or cash positive? I think just...

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Well, we are not sharing guiding on that at the current point in time. I think if you look to some of the analyst reports that are out there in the market from the likes of the Arctics and the Firnleys of the world. I think they kind of conclude on a consensus that really strong contribution of profitability will come from the larger Stage 3 opportunities that in agriculture are anticipated to happen sort of late 2025, giving an increased revenue generation from those in 2026 and beyond.

So -- but I'm not going to give you a specific guidance on it. But what we see right now is that we're starting to get a very healthy mix of these opportunities that takes longer to develop within agriculture, right? So we see that we're going to develop more revenue out of Stage 2 Phase 2 deployments through 2025, but we're accelerating larger deployments in the Landscaping segment that will drive more revenue generation in the coming year, as we then also continue to develop the really large-scale pipeline funnel for agriculture in parallel.

I think another factor that is important to keep in mind here is that we are a technology company, as you've seen from the update today. These technological advancements that we've made in the first half of this year are critical components. We're still in some areas at prototype stage, so we still have some development steps left. Of course, they are very nicely validated by having extensively field tested it in a lot of projects in the U.S., but those are also important elements that we invest in, in order to be able to reach a higher degree of profitability to expand the addressable markets and increase the value for our clients.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Yes. We have another question, very R&D related. Is the use of chlorinated water a problem to get the quality that you need for LNC? If so, what do you need to avoid chlorinated water?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Well, I was actually visiting a client where they were looking at using the water from swimming pools at the resort to drive more planting and vegetation in the area. So it's an area that we're looking into. I don't have all the answers on swimming pool water and highly chlorinated water, but we have been using the sources of water in the Middle East of both treated water, potable water, drinking water quality, so different types of sources. And let me also point to what I mentioned in the R&D update that we're working also on formulations to really expand the salinity tolerance of water sources and things like that, where water qualities in general is a big focus. So not just salinity, but all the aspects related to the water quality to expand the reach and feasibility of our technology.

[Ari Greve, executive]

Thank you, Ole. We have a last question. What efforts are currently being put into the larger United Nations initiatives and projects?

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Yes. So I think many of you may have observed that the World Food Program has mentioned us, and we had our good colleague, [ Jann ], pitching at one of these events together with the World Food Program accelerator candidates. So we are, as I mentioned before, in the scoping stage of a program, a pilot deployment with the World Food Program. I can say as much as currently, it's focusing on a specific area in Iraq, but we're in the scoping stage still. So final agreements are not finalized yet. And we will share an update to the market when that happens because it's a very exciting initiative.

[Ari Greve, executive]

We don't have more questions, so we can close our Q&A session.

[Ole Sivertsen, executive]

Excellent. Thank you for engaging questions and a good Q&A session. And also, thank you for joining the Desert Control Q2 2024 and year-to-date company update presentation. Before we close the session, please take note of the disclaimer relating to forward-looking statements. Thanks again, and we look forward to seeing you on November 15, 2024, for our Q3 report and company update.