SOUTH AFRICA – Cape Town’s Koeberg nuclear power station has launched a fully operational groundwater desalination plant.^[1] The plant will take care of the power station’s water demands and allow the station to be independent of the city’s water supply.  Koeberg is Africa’s only nuclear power station, and provides 50 percent of the Western Cape’s energy demands.

According to Velaphi Ntuli, the Koeberg Power Station Manager, the launch of the desalination plant forms part of a three-pronged water management strategy to address the acute water crisis in the Western Cape.  This strategy includes the reduction of power-station water usage, the maintenance of adequate on-site water storage, and the cultivation of alternative water supplies (such as groundwater and seawater).  Ntuli further stated that the power plant has saved 115,000 cubic meters of water since June of 2017.

GHANA – AquaVenture, the U.S.-based parent company of desalination supplier Seven Seas Water,  is in the process of acquiring Abengoa’s 56 percent stake in the Teshie-Nungua desalination plant near Accra, Ghana.  The $26 million purchase is expected to be close by the end of the second quarter of 2018.^[2]

^{Teshie-Nungua desalination plant near Accra. Credit: Desalination.biz}

AquaVenture has also reached an agreement to purchase a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant in Long Island, the BAHAMAS, for $3 million. The plant, which has the capacity to produce 900 cubic meters water per day, will supply water to the Water and Sewage Corporation of the Bahamas according to a long-term water purchase agreement. The deal is expected to conclude within the next two months, pending customary closing conditions and the approval of the Central Bank of The Bahamas.^[3]

OMAN – The Spanish private water operator and EPC contractor Aqualia has secured an agreement for the management of the water services in the Port of Sohar, including a 20,000 cubic meter per day desalination plant. The agreement will see Aqualia operate and maintain the installation, including its seawater intake via Oman Sustainable Water Services SAOC, a joint venture with Majis Industrial Services.^[4] Aqualia holds a 85% stake in the operating company, and Majis Industrial Services 15%.