Reduce water’s salinity, leaving it with a quality suitable for irrigation and incorporating energy efficiency, is the purpose of the first solar-powered desalination plant delivered this morning at the Agricultural School Padre Francisco Napolitano from the Lluta Valley, of the Arica and Parinacota Region. The ceremony was attended by the Mayor, José Durán Semir; the Public Works SEREMI (Regional Officer), Guillermo Beretta; and the Agriculture SEREMI, Jorge Alache.
The initiative, developed by Energy and Climate Change at Fundación Chile, is part of the project awarded by Fondo de Innovación para la Competitividad (Innovation Fund for Competitiveness or FIC) to “EnergÃa Solar con tecnologÃa de membranas (Solar Energy with Membrane Technology)”, which purpose is to cover the water demand for agricultural use in an area with water deficit.
“This water has high levels of salinity that restrict its use in agriculture for the generatation products with higher value added (…) What we want is to demonstrate the use of a membrane technology that has a low consumption of energy, using solar energy for conditioning brackish waters at competitive prices. Thus, we expect to promote the agricultural activity in the Region of Arica and Parinacota of northern Chile”, said Carolina Cuevas, head of solar projects at Fundación Chile.
The main outcomes of this project will be the construction of a pilot plant operating in an agricultural land; a market study; a business model to commercialize the technology and a dissemination plan.
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