News

San Antonio, Texas – The North American Development Bank (NADB) and the private company Desaladora Kenton, S.A. de C.V., signed a loan agreement to cover up to 75% of the cost for designing, building and start-up of a desalination plant in San Quintín, Baja California.

The state water agency, Comisión Estatal del Agua (CEA), awarded the public-private partnership agreement for the construction, financing and operation of the project through a competitive bidding process to the consortium formed Libra Ingenieros Civiles, S.A. de C.V., RWL Water, LLC and R.J. Ingeniería, S.A. de C.V., which created the special-purpose company Desaladora Kenton, to carry out the project.

The plant, with an estimated cost of US$48.2 million, will have the capacity to produce 5.7 million gallons a day (mgd) of drinking water for public use in the San Quintín Valley. The local water utility, Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Ensenada (CESPE), will be responsible for its distribution.

“NADB is pleased to provide the financing for this second desalinization plant in Baja California, which will benefit thousands of residents in the municipality of Ensenada, while helping to conserve natural resources in the area,” stated Alex Hinojosa, NADB Managing Director. “As underground sources become increasingly scarce, it is a priority for the Bank to work with all levels of government and the private sector to find alternative solutions to meet water demand.”

The main components of the project include the construction of seven wells for seawater intake, pipelines for seawater, brine discharge, desalinated water and a 0.52-million-gallon storage tank, as well as a power line to connect to the electric grid and two electric substations.

The desalinization plant is expected to benefit the communities in San Quintín Valley, which includes Camalú, Colonia Lomas de San Ramón, Colonia Nueva Era, Ejido el Papalote, Emiliano Zapata, Lázaro Cárdenas, San Quintín, Vicente Guerrero and other smaller communities.