Acciona wins desalination deal in Cape Verde islands

A consortium of Spanish water technology firm, Acciona Agua, and construction firm Sade-CGTH, has won a €16 million (US$ 18.5 million) design and build contract for a 5,000 m³/d seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant on each of the African Cape Verde islands of Sal and São Vicente from the local energy and water utility, Electra-SARL.

The plant on Isla de Sal will supply tourist resorts while the other, on Isla de São Vicente, will serve the city of Mindelo, which, with a population of 70,000, is the second largest in the archipelago. Both islands have very low rainfall and suffer from severe water shortage.
Construction on the two plants will be completed by 2017.

In 2002, Acciona Agua built a 5,000 m³/d SWRO plant at Palmarejo, which was later enlarged to 10,000 m³/d to supply the archipelago’s capital city, Praia. The company also operates and maintains the Palmarejo plant.