Desal bill could create more red tape in Chile

A bill aimed at regulating desalination in Chile could make the red tape even worse for investment projects by adding new requirements to obtain a maritime concession, according to Rafael Palacios, executive VP of local desalination and water reuse association Acades. 

“The process to grant [a maritime concession] is complex in terms of governance. The defense, national assets and public works ministries, and [water regulator] DGA are involved. The bill also gives DGA additional discretional power to grant the concession. That’s never good,” Palacios told BNamericas after a water resources workshop organized by the infrastructure policy council (CPI).

During the event, Palacios said that the biggest issue involving permitting for desal projects was not the lack of regulation, but rather an excess. 

“What we have nowadays is one permit on top of another,” he stated.

The desalination bill, which is currently being reviewed by the senate’s water resources committee, would establish a long-term desalination strategy and overhaul the process to obtain maritime concessions.

One aspect criticized by Palacios is that the process to obtain such concessions would also include aspects that are already covered in the environmental assessment process, which is handled by yet another agency (SEA).

“With the instructions from the senators, that has become worse. They incorporated concepts such as environmental justice and others that duplicate environmental competences [between agencies], and that's hell,” he told BNamericas. 

During his speech, the Acades VP highlighted that desalination projects have gone ahead despite the lack of specific regulations, albeit with very slow permitting processes.

“This isn’t complex technology, they aren't nuclear plants,” he complained, underscoring that some projects, such as a plant in Atacama region that began operations in 2021, took a decade to materialize. 

Financing was also pinpointed as a barrier, especially in sectors other than mining, where firms have the large amounts of capital needed to carry out such projects.

While desalination costs have fallen to around US$1.5/m3, most areas that could benefit from plants are not at sea level, and in many areas of Chile that means additional costs of pumping water over distances of up to 100km to cities that can be 1,000m above sea level.

“That’s excluding the costs for industries such as agriculture,” he said. In this case, he stated that “water swaps,” in which a city is supplied by desalinated water and leaves freshwater available for other sectors, could serve as an alternative. 

Chile currently has 24 operating desalination plants, while five are under construction and eight have passed environmental evaluation and are expecting to start operating in the near future.

Of these 85% serve mining companies, with the remaining 15% being for human consumption.