Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/749211
30 In Site December 2016 Water. desalination + reuse Desal past, present and future at Playas de Rosarito Rosarito has world's largest desal plant, an MSF system by Aqua-Chem November 2015 First dra of the Rosario project APP January 2012 Mexico's new PPP law, Ley de Asociaciones Publico Privadas (APP), comes in 1970s 2012 H1 2016 Consolidated Water wins competitive tender 75 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 50 25 0 Precipitation (mm) Average rainfall in Tijuana City at risk of water shortages Tijuana, Mexico, typically has six months in every year when little or no rain falls There will be a focus on low energy consumption EnErgy EfficiEncy • Plant will use the latest proven micro-filtration, ultra-filtration, and reverse osmosis technologies • Double the capacity of any other desalination facility in the Americas • Consolidated Water will exploit significant experience with energy recovery devices that it has gained through projects in the energy- expensive Caribbean market ProvEn tEchnology • The intention is to use proven and robust technologies in reliable ways • Experimental or unproven technologies are considered inappropriate in this context Technology and design It's still early days for the exact technical details of the system to have been nailed down. Broadly speaking, the approach will be "to deploy the latest proven micro-filtration, ultra-filtration and reverse osmosis technologies in the marketplace," says Tonner. "It's going to be double the capacity of anything in the Americas. It will be world class in terms of its environmental footprint, including energy consumption." He points out that the big innovations of the project are expressed more in terms of its mega-size, and the structure of the deals that it is built upon, rather than in using the latest, most experimental technology out there. Additionally, use of unproven or early stage technology is usually more appropriate in situations where the developer is investing only its own money. "The type of deals we are doing as part of the Rosarito project, they get done with limited recourse project finance which mandates that you are using proven, robust technologies in reliable ways," says Tonner. EPC contract goes to experienced mega- operator thE PartnErs • Degremont (Suez subsidiary) was selected as the design and construction partner • Track record and reliability of partners is considered important as part of the project package that will be presented to potential lenders thE oPErations • Suez, NuWater, and Consolidated Water will operate and maintain the plant and aqueduct over a period of 37 years • Ownership of the infrastructure transfers to Baja California State Water Commission (CEA) in the mid to late 2050s Construction and ops Consolidated Water's core market is in the Caribbean — including the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and the British Virgin Islands – a market whose energy prices are five to eight times higher than in the US or Europe. "We know that reverse osmosis is considered by some people to be an energy- intensive process, and in the Caribbean we operate in an energy-expensive market. At our Caribbean plants we have been among the first to deploy advanced energy recovery devices, we have a lot of experience with that. We do that with assets that are on our own balance sheet," explains Tonner. Consolidated Water's portfolio of plants includes RO plants in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and Bali. It began as an exclusive water utility franchise in Grand Cayman in the 1970s, developing technical expertise and regional knowledge that it could then leverage to expand. The company's first SWRO plant was installed in 1989.