Suez Environnement to enter Chinese desalination market

France-based utility company Suez Environnement has revealed its plans to enter the Chinese desalination market, by tendering projects in two of the country’s coastal cities.

The company is planning to tender projects in Tianjin municipality, and Qingdao in East China’s Shandong province, and become cement its status as a major player in the country by producing drinkable water from seawater.

The size of the two desalination plants have only been described as small to medium, with a capacity to produce about 100,000m³ to 200,000m³ of drinking water a day.

According to the company, severe water shortages due to scarcity of water resources and an increasing population has made China a good market for desalination projects.

Suez Environnement CEO Jean-Louis Chaussade was quoted by The China Daily as saying that the population of China constitutes 21% of the world’s population, but it has only 7% of the water resources.

"A lot of cities combine water transfer projects, recycling water and more rational consumption with desalination technology together to secure the access to drinking water in case of severe water shortage," Chaussade added.

The company is expecting to construct the first desalination plant in China in the next two to three years.

In 2011, a report stated that after Saudi Arabia, China is expected to become the second largest desalination market in the world by 2016.

In Australia, Suez Environnement has constructed the world’s largest desalination plant, Wonthaggi project with a capacity to produce 450, 000m³ a day.

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Image: Suez Environnement is planning to enter the Chinese desalination market. Photo: Danbury