Energy Recovery ships PX technology to desalination plant in Morocco
Energy Recovery, the company that harnesses reusable energy from industrial fluid flows and pressure cycles, announced it has shipped its Pressure Exchanger (PX) Q300 energy recovery devices for a mega-scale desalination plant off the coast of Jorf Lasfar, a deepwater commercial port located south of Casablanca on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.
The Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), a Moroccan-owned phosphate exporter, is the main contributor and contractor for the Jorf Lasfar project involving the development of the desalination plant and mining operations for the zone. The Jorf Lasfar plant will be built by Cadagua S.A., a leading engineering and procurement contractor. In this first phase, the plant will have a total estimated capacity of 75,800 cubic meters per day (20 million gallons per day), and by its final completion it will be producing an estimated 225,000 m³/day (59.4 MGD).
“Energy Recovery has been supplying energy recovery devices and technical support for several of our key overseas projects over many years. Our selection was based on Energy Recovery’s track record of providing high-availability, low-maintenance and long-term performance,” said Antonio Casado, Managing Director of CADAGUA.
“As the Middle East and Africa region continues to grow at such a rapid pace, its demand for desalination is ever present. In the last several months, we have noticed an increase in desalination project activity within the region,” stated Tom Rooney, Chief Executive Officer of Energy Recovery. “Clients such as Cadagua have been extraordinary partners to Energy Recovery over the last decade, and we are proud to be supporting this new, massive-scale effort with our high-performing PX-Q300 technology.”
While this installation is Energy Recovery’s first mega-project in Morocco, the company’s innovative clean technology has been implemented in close to 100% of all large-scale North African projects in the region. According to market reports, the African continent anticipates significant growth for energy recovery devices in the next four years, a direct result of the influx of desalination plants in the North African region. In April 2010, the Trekkopje mine in Namibia inaugurated the 54,888 cubic meters per day (14.5 MGD) desalination plant which also operates with PX devices.
