U.S.A. – South Coast Water District’s Doheny Ocean Desalination Project has been approved by the California Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission. The plant will have a production capacity of 18,927 m3/d and will utilize subsurface slant wells to draw seawater in from beneath the ocean floor and pump it to the treatment facility. Construction of the slant wells beneath the Doheny State Beach Campgrounds is estimated to take up to 18 months and the project has so far received grants worth a total of $32.4 million. The plant is projected to be fully operational by 2028. (Orange Coast magazine)
U.S.A. – The California Pollution Control Financing Authority recently priced $158 million in revenue bonds to fund modifications to the seawater intake system of the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination plant. The plant developed by Poseidon and operated by IDE Technologies, has produced more than 378 million cubic meters of desalinated seawater since it commenced operation in December 2015, providing San Diego County with 10 percent of its water supply each year. (The Bond Buyer)
MOROCCO – Sand to Green, a French-Moroccan start-up, has obtained $1 million in seed funding for its desalination irrigation and agroforestry project. The funds were raised from several business angels and venture capital funds, including Katapult and Catalyst Fund.
The Sand to Green project “green deserts through agroforestry and water desalination”, aims to create new arable land in Morocco, while continuing to fund research and development (R&D) of desalination and measuring soil re-fertilization. For the first quarter of 2023, the start-up aims to create 20 hectares of arable land for agriculture in the South of the Cherifian kingdom. The start-up’s approach is based on irrigation by desalination of sea water and brackish water and it is developing the drip technique, with a natural hydro-retainer to justify the use of the resource. (Afrik 21)
Irrigation of desert land. Credit: Shutterstock
INDIA – The Indian National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), a research institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), is building an ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) desalination plant in southwest India. The plant will have a capacity of 100 m3/d and is located on Kavaratti Island in Lakshadweep and is powered by 65kW power generated from OTEC. (Offshore Energy)