Brazil's largest desalination plant to begin construction in October

Construction of what will be Brazil's largest desalination plant, to be located in Fortaleza, capital of Ceará state, is expected to begin in October following the issuance of key authorizations.

The project recently secured land use rights from federal heritage agency SPU and an installation license from state environmental regulator Semace.

Work will be carried out under a public-private partnership (PPP) contract by the Águas de Fortaleza consortium, comprising Marquise Infraestrutura and Ceará state water utility Cagece (Companhia de Água e Esgoto do Ceará).

“We are in the final stages of fulfilling all legal requirements before starting construction. We now await the building permit from Fortaleza’s city hall and the authorization to set up the construction site, which also depends on municipal approval,” Cagece president Neuri Freitas said in a statement.

Initial plans called for the consortium to invest 3.1 billion reais (US$584 million) over the 30-year contract to build, operate and maintain the plant, which will supply 1,000 liters per second of drinking water to Cagece’s Mucuripe and Praça da Imprensa reservoirs.

However, the investment amount is currently under review due to delays.

Construction was initially expected to start in 2024, but the timeline was pushed back multiple times due to opposition from telecom operators and sector regulator Anatel. 

The project’s original location was deemed too close to submarine cable connections, posing risks to the infrastructure. Following negotiations, the site was shifted around 1km.

(The original version of this content was written in English)