Water. desalination + reuse

BUSINESS | 16 | Desalination & Water Reuse | August-September 2014 coRpoRAte chAngeS HItacHI partNErS wItH VEolIa oN oVErSEaS watEr INfraStrUctUrE projEctS Hitachi and Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies are to cooperate on desalination projects, mainly in emerging countries. The two companies will target seawater desalination, sewage water treatment and other water infrastructure projects in the Middle East, Africa and Asia regions.The partnership will accelerate the global rollout of Hitachi's water environment solutions business. Earlier this year, Hitachi and Veolia Water Technologies subsidiary OTV secured an order for a large desalination plant in Basra, Iraq in which Hitachi and Veolia will undertake engineering, procurement and construction as well operations and maintenance for five years. HItacHI BUyS cUmBErlaNd Japanese engineering giant Hitachi Zosen has acquired Dubai-based electrochemical company Cumberland for an undisclosed sum. Cumberland's electro-chlorination plant serves the desalination, power, oil and gas, petrochemical, wastewater treatment, and marine industries worldwide. Britain-originated Cumberland will continue operations from its headquarters in Dubai, and from its engineering, sales and technical support offices in the UK, Singapore and India. Chief executive officer, Alistair Munro, and the existing management team will remain in place and no redundancies are planned following the merger the company said. Hitachi Zosen said Cumberland Group's four water treatment businesses will widen its seawater electrolysis equipment line up for overseas markets. Hitachi Zosen declined to disclose the purchase price. The four companies provide engineering services involving seawater electrolysis equipment to small and midsize customers in the power generation, desalination, liquefied natural gas and petrochemical industries. Hitachi Zosen, which currently focuses on large versions of the same types of equipment, said it aims to more than double its annual sales in the business to US$ 70 million in five years. The deal is part of an aggressive merger and acquisition strategy under Hitachi Zosen's latest medium-term business plan. It plans to spend US$ 400 million on mergers and acquisitions over the three-year period to March 2017, up from about US$ 2 million spent over the previous three years. cHINESE fIrmS form dESalINatIoN plaNt joINt VENtUrE Water technology firm Beijing Origin Water and Chinese, state-owned water supplier Qingdao Water Group have established the Qingdao Water Origin Science Development joint venture ( JV) to build a 100,000 m³/d seawater reverse osmosis plant in the northeastern Chinese province of Qingdao. The plant will supply industrial water in Qingdao's Dongjiakou Economic Zone. The JV - in which the state-owned company holds 51% - has signed a memorandum of understanding with the economic zone to build the plant which is expected to be online in 2015. This will be the first phase of a project that could expand to 300,000 m³/d. Energy and environment firm Abengoa in February this year sold its 92.6 % stake in a 100,000 m³/day reverse osmosis desalination plant venture project company to its partner in the project, Qingdao Water Group for € 53 million (US$ 71 million). The joint venture company was created to manage the design, build own and operate the desalination plant in Qingdao which has been in operation since 2013. The companies said the deal strengthened their relationship for new project development in water. SUEz IN gloBal zEro lIqUId dIScHargE tEam Suez Environnement's water services division Degrémont has signed a global partnership agreement with Swiss-based evaporator and crystallizer equipment and engineering services supplier, Evatherm to develop zero liquid discharge projects in the power and oil and gas industries. The deal which takes in other industrial projects in oil and gas was announced as Suez took a minority share in Evatherm for and undisclosed sum. A Degrémont spokesperson said the two companies were already working together on projects, and Evatherm will also continue to develop projects independently. "This agreement strengthens Degrémont's position in the industrial market and the oil and gas market in particular. Together with Evatherm and the recently acquired Process Group, we are well- positioned to pursue oilfield projects globally." aBENgoa SIgNS dESalINatIoN dEal wItH cHIlEaN powEr groUp Chilean generator AES Gener has signed a contract with Spanish engineering firm Abengoa for a water desalination plant that will supply AES's Angamos northern coal-fired power plant. And a water utility also in the north of country has pledged to forge ahead with a desalination project despite public opposition. The AES desalination project, in northern Antofagasta, will initially have a 4,800 m³/d capacity, the generator said in a release. A second development phase could take the facility to 19,200 m³/d and supply other clients. Abengoa will build and operate the plant, with works expected to begin this year and take 12 months to complete. Meanwhile utility Aguas Antofagasta has said plans for the construction of its US$ 120 million second desalination plant remain unchanged despite community resistance. The company said it plans to invest 80 billion pesos (US$ 145 million) during 2014-19 to upgrade its network and cope with growing water demand. And it will make 45% of its planned investment in 2014 with the balance spread over the next four years, chief executive officer, Hugo Masana said. "We are looking to invest in upgrading infrastructure... building dams, improving technology and hiring new workers throughout the region," Masana told a national newspaper. "Demographic growth in cities such as Antofagasta and Calama has put greater strain on our infrastructure," Masana said. He went on to say that water demand had increased 17% in Mejillones in recent years. Aguas Antofagasta serves 161,000 people in the northern cities of Antofagasta, Calama, Mejillones, Taltal and Tocopilla, where some of the world's largest copper mines are located and water demand heavily exceeds supply. Chilean president Michelle Bachelet has presented a national infrastructure plan that included US$ 9.9 billion in new concessions until 2020 and US$ 18 billion in public works projects until 2021. The plan involves the construction of two desalination plants in northern Antofagasta region and Atacama region.

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