China has started construction of a CNY 7 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) seawater reverse osmosis desalination project - part of its bid to quadruple its desalination capacity by 2020.
The desalination plant is being built and will be operated by Aqualyng China - a venture between Norway’s Aqualyng and Hong Kong-based Beijing Enterprises Water Group.
According to a report by Bloomberg, work has started on the shores of Bohai Bay near the city of Tangshan to build the plant to help to meet freshwater demands in the nation’s capital Beijing. When operational in 2019, the Bohai Bay plant will have a daily treatment capacity of 120,000 tonnes of seawater.
China plans to produce treated water at more than 4,000 Ml/d under the government’s Special Plan for Seawater Utilization. The country’s rainfall has diminished leading to declining water resources with some 400 of the 668 largest cities in the country suffering due to water scarcity.
A further CNY 10 billion (US$ 1.36 billion) will be invested for laying the Beijing pipeline.