A rendering of the brackish desalination plant layout in Alice. Seven Seas Water won the bid to finance, build, and operate the plant for 15 years. Courtesy image
The city of Alice selected Seven Seas Water to build a desalination plant. The City Council on Aug. 18 approved the company’s Alternate Groundwater Delivery Request for Proposal. Seven Seas Water will finance, own, and operate the plant as well as design and build it. The land where the plant will be built will remain city property.
According to Seven Seas Water, it is the first Public Private Partnership, or P3, desalination plant in Texas and should be completed in 18 months.
“We are thrilled to be selected to install a (brackish water reverse osmosis) desalination plant for the City of Alice,” said company CEO Olaf N. Krohg. “Our technology agnostic cost-effective delivery model guarantees the price for water, and our team’s industry-leading operations and maintenance experience with desalination plants is what ultimately led to the project award. We look forward to breaking ground soon.”
The plant will have an initial production capacity of 3 million gallons per day with options for expansion. Seven Seas will guarantee water in volumes and quality dictated by the city, which will resume ownership of the plant at the end of the 15-year contract.
“Seven Seas Water has a proven track record owning and operating destination plants,” said Alice City Manager Michael Esparaza. “Their low-cost solution removes risk from our taxpayers and allows the city to better navigate our budget during these uncertain times.”
State Rep. J.M. Lozano (R-District 43), the Texas House Environmental Regulation chairman, welcomed Seven Seas Water to the Lone Star State.
“I have worked with Seven Seas Water at the Capitol on water issues important to Texas,” he said. “Bringing private sector expertise to the Texas water market is what we need to increase our water supplies.”
Seven Seas Water is a portfolio company owned by investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners. It utilized seawater reverse osmosis and other purification technologies to produce potable and high-purity industrial process water in high volumes for customers operating in regions with limited access to potable water. The company is based in Tampa, Florida, and has plants in 10 countries across the Caribbean, the Americas, and the Middle East.
