Sacyr Water has successfully reached financial close of the Salar del Carmen water reuse plant in Antofagasta, Chile, for $460 million. The term of the concession is 35 years.
The financing has been subscribed by Banco Estado, BTG Pactual and Banco Internacional and represents a historic milestone due to the important technical complexities involved in the structuring of a water reuse project of this scale.
The plant, tendered by Chile’s Sanitary Services Company (Econssa), will be the largest in Latin America and will focus on reuse water for the mining industry. It will substantially improve regional sustainability indices and create more than 500 jobs in the area.
"With this operation, Sacyr reaffirms its commitment to the development of sustainable, innovative and high-impact infrastructures, contributing to water security, care for the environment and improving people's quality of life. This concession will mark a pioneering trend in wastewater reuse", said Sacyr Water's manager in Chile, Lucas de Marcos.
Salar del Carmen Plant
The plant will capture pre-treated wastewater from the current Antofagasta plant, operated by Sacyr Water, and will take it to the Salar del Carmen area, where the new treatment plant will be located, which will have a final capacity of 900 liters per second.
It is expected that the pretreated waters will be transported along 16 kilometers, to the Salar del Carmen sector, including a 5.4-kilometer section in the urban area that will be executed by microtunneling.
In addition, an additional 24 kilometers will be built to La Negra and another 24 kilometers to Mantos Blancos. The new treatment plant is expected to be operational in 2028.
