ERI, who are one of the leading providers of high-efficiency energy recovery products and technology for desalination, have worked with Acciona Agua before now on Europe's largest desalination facility, the Torrevieja plant in Spain. The new plant, which will supply 75,000M3 of water, is situated in the Paraguana Peninsula in northwest Venezuela, one of the driest places in Venezuela. It will be the largest desalination plant in South America and is scheduled for completion at the beginning of 2010.
Only 30% of the water produced at Acciona Agua's plant will be delivered to the local 350,000 strong population. The remainder of the water will be used as part of the refining process at the nearby Paraguana Refinery Complex, run by Petroleos de Venezuela SA, who are the co-designers and builders of the project with Acciona Agua.
It is projected that ERI's technology will save the plant 52 megawatts of energy per year. ERI's PX device is a rotary displacement pump that recoevrs energy from the high pressure reject stream of sea water reverse osmosis systems, without downtime or scheduled maintenance. Borja Blanco, ERI vice president and general manager of ERI's Mega Projects Division said, "we consider Acciona Agua to be a premier partner in delivering energy efficient solutions in desalination. They have relied on PX technology for many of their projects all over the world."
