Technical assistance to draw up the project and process the administrative procedures for the works to remodel the desalination in the Bay of Palma

The project

It is calculated that 20% of Spanish territory has water shortage problems. In Spain, water to be used for human consumption comes from continental surface water, groundwater and coastal water. 

A large population and high levels of tourism, and a high demand for irrigated crops, are all factors in the availability and need for new sources of high-quality water.  The most commonly used technologies the world over are desalination and distillation. In Spain, desalination systems, using reverse osmosis with a semi-permeable membrane, are more common than distillation (or evaporation), which is much more costly in terms of the power used.

Additionally, because of the effects of climate change, the use of sea water is on the rise, with plants being built to desalinise sea water to make it drinkable so as to supply coastal areas, particularly those with high levels of tourism, such as the Balearic Islands.

The Bay of Palma desalination plant entered into operation in 1999 and currently the maximum production capacity is far from the potential, which does not guarantee that the production quota can be met in drought years, as most of the equipment in the plant and its annexes are obsolete and have reached the end of their useful life. On top of all this, the plant’s technology has become obsolete, making it harder and more expensive to carry out repairs, less efficient in terms of energy, as it consumes 20% more power than modern plants.