IDE Technologies Ltd. will expand a large desalination plant in China, doubling its capacity to 73 million cubic meters of water a year. The company will supply four more multi-effect distillation (MED) desalination units to the Tianjin SDIC power plant. IDE did not disclose the size of the deal.
IDE is the desalination joint venture owned in equal shares by Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL).
The expansion to 200,000 cubic meters of water a day, will make the desalination plant China's largest. The power plant will generate 4,000 megawatts upon completion to meet the growing needs of Tianjin city and alleviate electricity shortages in northern China. The IDE units will provide the desalinated seawater required for use in the power plant's steam boilers, as well as drinking water for local residents.
IDE won the contract in an open international tender by SDIC, which wanted a desalination solution that met strict environmental standards and had optimized, field-proven technology. IDE said that its installation of the first four desalination units at the power plant on time and within budget contributed to its winning the current tender.
IDE CEO Avshalom Felber said, "This ambitious project strengthens our position in the strategic China market and in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region as a whole, which has been a focus of our activities for more than two decades."
IDE jointly owns two seawater reverse osmosis desalination in Israel. The 127 million cubic meter a year plant at Hadera, the largest plant of its kind in the world, which came on line in May, is jointly owned with Shikun u'Binui Holdings Ltd. (TASE: SKBN). It is also a partner in the 100 million cubic meter a year plant at Ashkelon, which has been in operation since 2005.
Delek Group's share price fell 2.3% by mid-afternoon on the TASE today to NIS 837.10, and Israel Chemicals' share price fell 3.4% to NIS 42.16, part of a general market slide.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 29, 2010
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