We are FCC - Nº17

water A sustainable management model with solar energy Located within the Cabo de Gata-Ní- jar Natural Park, the desalination plant inAlmeria is designed to produ- ce and distribute 20 cubic hectome- tres of desalinated water per year, enough to irrigate more than 3,000 hectares of greenhouses, equivalent to 10% of the irrigable surface area of the entire province of Almeria, or 60% of the irrigable surface area of the entire province of Almeria. 3,000 hectares of greenhouses, equivalent to 10% of the irrigable area of the en- tire province of Almeria or 60% of the irrigable area of Nijar, due to a large water deficit in which the aquifers are salinized and have increasingly lower levels, which means that the demand for irrigation water cannot be covered by the existing natural water sources. A technical challenge The company expects the adapta- tion works, which are already un- derway, to take one year. Thus, the aim is that in early 2022 the Mar de Alborán desalination plant will start operating under a sustainable ma- nagement model, powered by solar energy from a photovoltaic plant in- cluded in the project. The Rambla Morales desalination plant, now Mar de Alborán, repre- sents a technical and management challenge, and is the first major wa - ter management infrastructure ow- ned by Aqualia in Spain. With it, the company strengthens its presence in the province of Almeria, where it manages the municipal water servi- ces of several municipalities, inclu- ding the capital and Nijar. Between 2005 and 2009, the Comu- nidad de Regantes Rambla Morales (the Rambla Morales Community of Irrigators) built the infrastructure to produce desalinated water for the irrigation of its crops, located in the municipalities of Almería and Níjar. The desalination plant barely got to work in precarious conditions and was sold to an investment fund. At the end of 2019, Servicios Hídricos Agricultura y Ciudad, a subsidiary of Aqualia, acquired the facility. This operation reinforces Aqualia’s involvement with the province of Al- meria, promoting the economic and social development of the province through investment in projects of great significance and added value. José Colomina, director of Aqualia’s Andalucía III branch office, presented the project in Almería to the representatives of the Administration and the regional government. Aqualia’s first major water management infrastructure in Spain B U S I N E S S 21 B U S I N E S S