Chile approves LatAm's largest desal plant

The evaluation committee in northern Chile's Atacama region unanimously approved the environmental impact study for the US$500mn ENAPAC desalination plant, which will be the largest such complex in Latin America.

The project entails construction of a solar-powered plant with capacity of 2,630l/s, a 100MW photovoltaic plant to power it and a reservoir with capacity for 600,000m3 of treated water.

"The industrial sector's response to the project, particularly among mining companies, has been very positive and we are advancing conversations with many of them," said Rodrigo Silva, CEO of TRENDS, one of the members of the ENAPAC consortium, in a release.

Atacama governor Francisco Sánchez, who heads the evaluation committee, said the approval is in line with President Sebastián Piñera's plan to speed up investments.

"He asked us to incentivize investment, but only quality investments, and this project fulfills those requirements," he said.

The ENEPAC plant was listed as one of the projects for the region in the government's sustainable projects management (GPS) office, which was launched in May to speed up bureaucratic procedures to boost large investments.

The head of the office, Juan Obach, told BNamericas that since May 10 projects listed by the GPS office have obtained environmental approval, while 20 more initiatives have entered its registry.

"We have 11 desalination projects listed, of which only six are related to the mining sector, which shows that this technology has many uses beyond mining. ENAPAC is one of the best examples, as it is a multi-client project and, for example, could help to develop an agricultural pole in Atacama," he said.

GPS currently lists 223 projects worth nearly US$58bn. According to Obach, business sector response to the office has been "very positive" as it gave a signal of the government's trust in public-private alliances and has highlighted the need to coordinate bureaucratic procedures.