Jerusalem Post
Israelis to design San Diego-area
desalination plant
.
By _SHARON UDASIN_ (http://www.jpost.com/Authors/AuthorPage.aspx?id=71)
01/07/2013 03:02
IDE Americas Inc., a subsidiary of Israel’s IDE Technologies Ltd, to
design project - the largest of its kind in western hemisphere.
Carlsbad power station site in the San Diego area Photo: Courtesy IDE
The Israeli desalination giant that is already responsible for the brunt of
Israel’s salty-to-fresh water transformation is now taking on San Diego,
in the biggest desalination project to hit the western hemisphere.
IDE Americas Inc., a subsidiary of Israel’s IDE Technologies Ltd, will be
designing a 204,412-cubic-meter seawater desalination plant for the San
Diego region, the company announced on Sunday. The $922 million plan, called
Carlsbad Desalination Project, is being administered by Poseidon Resources
(Channelside) LP, a subsidiary of Poseidon Water LLC, and will be carried out
in partnership with the San Diego County Water Authority.
*
Kiewit Shea Desalination, a joint venture between subsidiaries of companies
Kiewit Corp. and J.F. Shea Construction Inc., will be providing the
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the facility as well as the
10-mile (16- km.) pipeline required to deliver the treated water per day
produced there, according to Poseidon Resources. Meanwhile, IDE Americas Inc.
will design the processing plant, and will also be responsible for operation
and maintenance (O&M) of the plant under a 30- year contract.
For the design contract, IDE will be receiving $150m., while the O&M
agreement will bring the company $500m. Construction of the plant will begin
this year and is slated to begin bringing high-quality drinking water to the
San Diego area by 2016, a statement from IDE Technologies said. The hope is
that the new desalination plant will help San Diego County Water Authority
alleviate its water shortage and achieve its goal of supplying 7 percent of
the region’s water through desalination by 2020 – “creating a new map of
the American water market,” the statement added.
“The Carlsbad Desalination Project is a significant milestone for us,
California and the US at large, as we believe it will set the stage for the
future of desalination in America,” said Avshalom Felber, CEO of IDE
Technologies Ltd. “For decades, we’ve successfully completed similar projects
in
countries all over the world, and we’re excited to be a part of what will be
the largest desalination plant in the US.”
Based in the Sharon Industrial Park in Kadima, near Netanya, IDE has built
and operates some of the world’s largest desalination plants, currently
providing a cumulative capacity of over 2.3 million cubic meters a day around
the world, according to the firm.
The company has worked in 400 plants in 40 countries over four decades thus
far – including Israel’s own Ashkelon and Hadera desalination plants, as
well as the future Sorek facility.
“The Carlsbad project that we’re about to embark upon will accelerate both
the visibility of desalination in North America and the ability of
potential clients, both public and private, to understand how creative project
delivery, creative finance and innovative process design allow these types of
projects to happen,” said Mark Lambert, CEO of IDE Americas. “The movement
in the US toward desalination has been a long time coming, and we’re ready
to lead the charge.”
While there are many industrial desalination projects already throughout
North and South America, there are very few such plants for the mainstream
populations of these two continents, Felber told The Jerusalem Post on
Sunday. “This is a developing market as far as desalination is concerned,” he
said. Because this is the first major mainstream desalination project in the
region, IDE can by default end up in the “unique position as the leading
desalination company in the whole area,” Felber explained.
Although IDE has a huge amount of experience in building and operating
desalination facilities, until now it has been difficult to enter the American
market, and this project gives the company the opportunity to show that it
is able to operate according to American standards, Felber said. When vying
for the project, IDE was competing with companies from France and Spain as
well as one local American firm. The San Diego Water Authorityhas already
signed on 20 municipalities within its bounds that have committed to
receiving the desalinated water when it comes online, Felber noted.
After completing this project, he stressed that IDE would like to expand
its involvement in the emergent American desalination market, looking
specifically to regions like Florida, Texas and other parts of California.
“It’s no news that we and other Israeli [desalination] companies are
well-known,” Felber said. “The real global news is entering the American
market, which is really hard to penetrate.”
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