Planta Desaladora Aguas de Rosarito

The project consists of a desalinization plant and an aqueduct. The desalinization plant will be located on the coast of the Playas de Rosarito municipality, Baja California. The site’s total area comprises 20 hectares and borders the Presidente Juárez Thermoelectric Plant (TP), operated by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). The reverse osmosis desalinization plant will share a seawater intake system and a water discharge channel with the TP in order to reduce any potentially harmful environmental impacts. The proximity to the sea, the closeness between the plant and the delivery point, the reliable and adequate energy supply, as well as the close location to the thermoelectric plant, cooled with seawater, were the main factors behind the selection of this site. The project would include two phases: 1) an initial 2.2 cubic meters per second (m3/s) and 2) an additional 2.2 cubic meters planned for 2024. When operating at full capacity (phase 2), the plant will have a treatment capacity of 4.4 cubic meters per second, and will require 80 megawatts (MW) of energy (40 MW per phase).

The Project will also include a 29-kilometer-long aqueduct from the desalinization plant to two delivery points at the storage tanks of the Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana (CESPT), the state entity that will receive the water from the project. The aqueduct will have a nominal capacity of 4.4 m3/s, once the two phases are completed; its route will mostly follow the right of way (ROW) of other existing infrastructure such as the Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) polyduct, the CFE’s high voltage transmission towers and some public roads.