The AdelaideAqua consortium—a joint venture between McConnell Dowell Constructors, Abigroup Contractors, Acciona Agua and United Utilities Australia—is building the plant. It is expected to provide 300,000 cubic meters (74 million gallons) of fresh water per day to 1.1 million residents in Adelaide. Energy Recovery anticipates delivery of its PX devices in the first half of the year.
Once running, the Adelaide facility will save more than 3,120kW of energy and offset more than 16,000 tons of CO2 annually by using ERI’s PX energy recovery devices, according to the company. Adelaide is the fourth desalination plant in Australia to include the PX technology, with ERI also holding contracts at three major facilities including Perth, Cape Preston and Melbourne.
In total, Energy Recovery said that it is helping to produce more than one million cubic meters (264 million gallons) of fresh water per day across Australia. The Adelaide plant is also the seventh project in which ERI and Acciona Agua are collaborating to provide clean, affordable water.
Additional projects include plants in Algeria, Venezuela, and several in Spain. Together, Acciona Agua and ERI provide 667,000 cubic meters (176 million gallons) of fresh water every day.
Energy Recovery claims that PX devices operate at up to 98% efficiency and reduce the energy consumption of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) systems by up to 60%, making desalination a cost-effective solution for clean water supply. PX devices also reduce the carbon footprint of desalination, saving more than 890MW of energy and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 4.7 million tons per year worldwide.
