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One of the world‘s largest, most technically advanced, environmentally friendly and energy efficient desalination plants
The award-winning Victorian Desalination Plant is the largest desalination facility in Australia, and provides water security by reliably delivering up to 30 per cent of Melbourne’s water requirements.
The mission
A long-term strategy
Climate change and drought remain the biggest challenges to water supply in Australia. In 2007, the Victorian Government released a long-term plan to guarantee and secure a reliable water supply for the state’s growing population and economy, including a range of initiatives to diversify and boost water supplies in major urban centres.
Critical to the plan was the construction of a new desalination plant to provide around 4.5 million residents in Melbourne and regional areas with a rainfall-independent fresh water source.
Our answer
State of the art
The Victorian Government contracted AQUASURE, a Special Purpose Vehicle of 8 investing Shareholders (including SUEZ) to finance, design, build, operate and maintain the Victorian Desalination Project for 30 years.
The $3.5-billion project features an advanced environmentally sustainable design and is the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in Australia, using 51 reverse osmosis racks and 55,000 membranes to remove salt and other dissolved solids from the seawater.
The plant was commissioned in record time in 2012, meeting 100 per cent of quality and efficiency targets and transitioning seamlessly to the operation and maintenance phase.
The $3.5-billion project features an advanced environmentally sustainable design and is the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in Australia, using 51 reverse osmosis racks and 55,000 membranes to remove salt and other dissolved solids from the seawater.
The plant was commissioned in record time in 2012, meeting 100 per cent of quality and efficiency targets and transitioning seamlessly to the operation and maintenance phase.
Embedding renewability
The plant’s design minimises negative impacts on the local landscape, flora and fauna, communities and cultural heritage. Its living green roof – the largest in the southern hemisphere – links the site with the surrounding coastal landscape and reduces the visibility of the industrial buildings. A 225-hectare ecological reserve constructed around the plant preserves biodiversity and offers the public a recreational space.
The plant’s reverse osmosis technology, compact modular design and myriad of efficiency features reduce its energy requirements, and 100 per cent of the energy used is offset by renewable energy certificates.
The plant’s reverse osmosis technology, compact modular design and myriad of efficiency features reduce its energy requirements, and 100 per cent of the energy used is offset by renewable energy certificates.
The results
The future of fresh water
The Victorian Desalination Plant can produce up to 150 gigalitres of desalinated water each year, with upgrade capacity to 200 gigalitres.
One of the world’s largest Public Private Partnership projects, it sets new global benchmarks in engineering excellence, plant efficiency and ecological integration.
One of the world’s largest Public Private Partnership projects, it sets new global benchmarks in engineering excellence, plant efficiency and ecological integration.
450,000
m3
per day capacity
4.5
million
inhabitants served (estimated)
