IDE Water Technologies Secures MAXH₂O Desalter Demo Installation For The Power Company Enel Generación Chile S.A.

IDE to build and operate a MAXH₂O Desalter Demo unit using standard size commercial membranes to minimize cooling tower blowdown

IDE Water Technologies, a world leader in water treatment solutions, has signed a contract with ENEL Generación Chile S.A. to demonstrate the company’s MAXH₂O Desalter solution at ENEL's San Isidro Power Plant.

The scope of the ENEL Generación Chile S.A. San Isidro Power Plant project includes the fabrication, installation and operation of a fully advanced demonstration treatment unit implementing IDE's MAXH₂O Desalter technology. This unit will use standard commercial size membrane elements and will be shipped to Chile to be installed and operated by IDE in partnership with a local subcontractor. IDE believes that cooling tower blowdown poses a challenge for many industries in general and for power plants in particular. By introducing IDE's MAXH₂O technology for this industrial application, much of the cooling tower blowdown can be minimized and reused, thus offering an economic and sustainable solution.

“From the beginning, IDE’s MAXH₂O technology impressed us and interested us to further explore the applicability and performance on the complex cooling tower blowdown minimization needs of our power plants,” said Daniela Galla, Innovation Manager, Innovation Global Power Generation, ENEL. “As one of the largest power and energy companies in the world, we continually strive to be more sustainable in our practices and have complete confidence in IDE’s technology to help us achieve this goal.”

IDE’s MAXH₂O Desalter operates by recirculating treated water through the reverse osmosis system and a fluidized bed pellet reactor at high velocity, continuously precipitating supersaturated salts from the recirculated brine. The solution offers high recovery rates and flexibility without endangering the membranes’ service life, translating into low investment and operational costs for the facility.

“We are excited to have been selected by ENEL Generación to provide our MAXH₂O Desalter technology for their San Isidro power plant, and to have the opportunity to commission a first of its kind demo unit for a facility of this size,” said Matan Alper, Head of Industrial Water Business Development, IDE Water Technologies. “We are working hard on this installation and look forward to the positive impact IDE’s innovative water technologies will have on the plant’s sustainability in the coming years.”

About Enel Generación
Enel Generación is the leading generation company in Chile with a combined gross installed capacity that amounted to 6,000 MW at the end of 2020, 59.1% corresponding to renewable energies and 40.9% to thermal power plants. The company owns and operates 109 generation units: 38 are hydroelectric (3,469 MW of gross installed capacity); 20 thermal generation units (2,454 MW of installed capacity); and 51 wind generation units (78 MW of installed capacity). As of December 31, 2020, the market share in energy sales (GWh) reached 30.4% of the energy sold in the National Electric System (SEN).

About IDE Technologies
A world leader provider of desalination and water treatment solutions, IDE specializes in the development, engineering, construction and operation of some of the world’s largest and most advanced thermal and membrane desalination facilities and industrial water treatment plants. IDE partners with a wide range of customers – municipalities, oil & gas, mining, refineries and power plants – on all aspects of water projects, and delivers approximately 3 million m3/day of high-quality water worldwide.

For more information, visit www.ide-tech.com.