The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Water of the Government of the Canary Islands, Juan Ramón Hernández, has stated in Parliament that the progress of the works of the Lanzarote V desalination plant is pending the concession for the occupation of the public maritime-terrestrial domain. The work will allow the execution of the seawater intake and the submarine outfall for the discharge of brines from said installation.
Given the growing need to adapt the current infrastructure to the regulations on discharges, the works of this installation include a submarine outfall for the joint evacuation of the brine generated in this new plant and in Lanzarote III and IV. In response to a parliamentary question, the head of the area commented that it is currently being processed by the General Directorate of Nature Protection, which depends on the Ministry of Education, Universities and Sustainability. In turn, it requires the authorization of the General Directorate of Coastal Sustainability of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
The Minister assured that the necessary documents have been provided to obtain the authorizations, which allow the start of the execution of the aforementioned outfall once the permits have been obtained. These works are awaiting the issuance of the mandatory report from the coordinator designated by the Ministry of Agriculture to monitor the agreement on the request to draft a modified project, consisting of the modification of the membranes included in the initial project for new membranes that improve energy efficiency. In addition, it is intended to modify the type of calcite filters to minimize the plant's energy consumption, avoiding possible load breaks.
The Minister explained that the proposed modifications arise "under the protection of the technical improvements that have appeared on the market in the time that has elapsed between the bidding of the initial project and the start of the execution of the works." The execution of the Lanzarote V desalination plant was planned in Annex II of the Collaboration Agreement between the Canary Islands and the State, for the development of actions in the field of water in the Canary Islands, signed between both parties and which has been developed since mid-2009.
Remodeling of the facilities
During his speech, the Minister explained that the actions basically consist of the remodeling of the facilities where the Lanzarote II plant was located, to locate the new Lanzarote V infrastructure. Since the end of 2011, work began on the manufacture of electrical and mechanical equipment, which represents 85.73 percent of the total budget of the actions.
The civil works began last March. These include the conditioning of the building of the old Lanzarote II desalination plant, and the construction of pipelines and placement of pipes that will connect the new installation with the future submarine outfall to be executed. The degree of works executed to date of issuance of this report is set at a percentage close to 45 percent, according to the Government of the Canary Islands
