Construction of US$1.5bn Chile desal plant expected to start this year

Construction of the US$1.5bn Enapac desalination plant in northern Chile's Atacama region is expected to start late this year, seven years after the environmental impact study was approved. 

Although environmental approval for one of the plant's two distribution pipelines has not yet been granted, "only the last details are missing" before works can start, Rodrigo Silva, CEO of project owner Trends, told BNamericas on the sidelines of the Vostok Capital-hosted Desalination Latin America congress in Santiago. 

The 2,630l/s facility will be powered by a 100MW photovoltaic plant.

Environmental review agency SEA approved the 166km northern pipeline in 2020, while the 197km eastern pipeline is still under review.

Silva said efforts to shorten review times have apparently not advanced. Long assessment periods are still the main bottlenecks for desalination in Chile.

He said that he lost count of the number of permits needed for the project, adding the process was "madness" due to the plant's dimensions. The desalination bill currently debated in congress is unlikely to provide relief, the CEO said.

"There's always going to be more roadblocks. Luckily we're going to start works before that bill is passed, since it has a lot of problems," Silva said. 

A key criticism of the bill is that it adds more requirements to obtain a maritime concession.