Spanish EPC contractor Acciona Agua has awarded Energy Recovery Inc (ERI) of the USA the energy-recovery technology contract for the 75,000 m³/d (20 MGD) Paraguana desalination plant in Venezuela.
The seawater reverse-osmosis (SWRO) project is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion early in 2010.
The SWRO project at Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s refinery complex is being designed and built jointly by Spanish water company Acciona Agua and PDVSA. The oil company will use about 30% of the production capacity, with the remainder supplying a population of 350,000. This will be the largest RO desalination plant in South America and one of the largest in the Caribbean region.
The plant will employ 64 model PX-260 units, saving the project an estimated 52 MW of energy per year. Acciona has also previously selected PX technology for the 240,000 m³/d (64 MGD) Torrevieja plant, the 60,000 m³/d Tordera retrofit plant and the 16,000 m³/d Arucas II in Spain, as well as the 100,000 m³/d (26 MGD) Fouka project in Algeria.