Water. Desalination + reuse
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18 In Site June 2017 Water. desalination + reuse Seven mineS lined up to buy produced WAter project development • The estimated capital cost of the project is pegged at $500 million • An environmental impact study is in progress • A number of potential finance backers have expressed early interest in the project • Construction is expected to begin end 2018 or early 2019 The proposed ENAPAC project will be situated south of Caldera and east of Copiapó, close to the shoreline. The Atacama region of northern Chile is suffering from an intense drought, and there are significant demands on water resources for drinking and sanitation, agriculture, and industry including mining. The Chilean mining industry, which wants water to support ProJeCT STruCTure An integrated solar PV and SWro project to support mining expansion • Multi-client project could see produced water sold to around seven mines • The optimum for the project is to be 80 per cent powered by solar energy Energías y Aguas del Pacífico (eNAPAC) is a solar-powered desalination plant and water conveyance project currently in development by Chilean engineering firm TRENDS Industrial. The company aims to sell water to multiple mining clients in the region of Atacama in Chile, many of which potential buyers have expressed an interest in the project. once an environmental impact study is completed, more detailed commercial conversations with potential clients will move ahead. Mining operators in the region have significant opportunities to increase their extraction, but the lack of available water to support operations is holding them back. Increasingly, they are under pressure not to use freshwater sources that are needed by the community for drinking and sanitation. TRENDS sees an opportunity for a multi-client project that will use the abundant solar energy in Atacama desert to power a specially designed system that will take seawater from the Pacific Ocean, desalinate it, and transport it for use by mining clients. The success of the vision hinges on technology from German firm Synwater. The system, which will be tailored to suit the specific requirements of the eNAPAC project, has been developed by Germany company Synli , and is based on the principle that one way to enable use of solar or wind energy to power industrial processes is to develop systems able to tolerate wide variations in energy supply. If the proposal goes ahead, it will result in construction of one of the largest desalination plants in Chile, with peak capacity of 126,000 m3/d, and will be the country's first multi- client desalination project. Produced water will be pumped 45 miles and across a height of 700 metres to a new reservoir up in the mountains at Tierra Amarillo where mining companies operate. The system comprises five pumping stations, one at the intake, one at the treatment plant, two on the piping route, and one at the reservoir. continued on p20 expansion, has crossed swords over water supplies with the local municipalities. In many instances, mining operators have invested in their own small scale desalination projects, which are dotted along the coast. Now engineering firm TRENDS Industrial is financing development of large scale desalination plant to be powered by solar energy, with the intention of selling produced water to multiple mining clients. It has held initial conversations with potential mining customers, as well as project financiers, is now conducting an environmental impact study, and building out the project specifics, including costings. "The region has big potential to increase mining capacity, but the operators require a constant flux of water," explains TRENDS Industrial director of engineering Hagen Gleisner. "Until recently, mining operators have used continental waters, but environmental laws and the social license to operate that they need has forced them to find alternative sources of water, and desalination arises as the most feasible and optimum answer." A solar photovoltaic plant to power the desalination system is a practical response designed to keep operating costs at an affordable level, and one that's seen as an obvious solution given the high incidence of solar in northern Chile. "Chile is fairly new to desalination. Climatic conditions are ideal for renewables desalination, and we hope that this project will have great influence on other projects," says Hagen. "From a national point of view, it can provide an impulse for further, large scale integration of fluctuant energy systems. And globally, we hope that the ENAPAC project will put Atacama region and Chile in a leading position regarding innovation in solar desalination, and that we can inspire others who have equivalent conditions in terms of seawater accessibility and solar energy." The capital cost of the project is pegged at $500