The project includes tunnelling beneath the shoreline and inter-tidal areas to position the intake and outfall pipes in deeper waters. Placing the pipeline underground is designed to protect the coastline and marine environments.
The reverse osmosis desalination plant at Billy Lights Point on Eyre Peninsula will provide a sustainable source of drinking water for the region’s 35,000 SA Water customers.
Acciona will construct the 5.3 gigalitre-per-year capacity plant with marine construction specialist McConnell Dowell also partnering with SA Water to deliver the project’s associated marine infrastructure.
Both Acciona and McConnell Dowell were part of the construction consortium that delivered the 100 gigalitre-capacity Adelaide Desalination Plant in 2011.
South Australian-based construction company Leed will be responsible for designing and constructing the transfer pipeline which will deliver safe, clean drinking water from the new plant to the existing water distribution network.
SA Water has been working with Acciona to refine the project’s design to determine the final cost of delivering the plant as quickly as possible, while incorporating stakeholder feedback to minimise environmental impacts.
Combined with continued global inflationary pressures, the changes have resulted in a revised project cost of approximately A$470m (€264.8m). The plant is to be operational by the end of 2026.
In Western Australia, Water Corporation is currently assembling two TBMs for the A$2.8bn (€1.56bn) Alkimos Seawater Desalination Plant.
