At the ceremony confirming the selection of a preferred bidder for the Port of East London water desalination project are (from left): Norland Construction’s Jarl Heurlin, Impact Water Solutions’ Patrice Boyer, TNPA acting CEO Phyllis Difeto and Port of East London manager Sphiwe Mthembu
South Africa’s State-owned Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has awarded a R60-million contract for the construction of a water desalination plant at the Port of East London, the country’s only river port.
The contract has been awarded to a JV comprising Norland Civil Engineers and Contractors and Impact Water Solutions, trading as Sun Water East London, which will construct and operate the solar-powered facility over a seven-year period.
It is the first-ever seawater desalination plant to be built across TNPA’s eight commercial ports and it will produce 0.5 megalitres a day of potable water that will meet drinking quality standards.
“The introduction of this alternative water solution is a step towards the advancement of the port system and seeks to minimise TNPA’s reliance on external parties for the provision of freshwater,” acting TNPA CEO Advocate Phyllis Difeto said at a signing ceremony on April 3.
The project, she added, was in line with a strategic plan to increase the resilience of utilities across the port system, while the solar component would help reduce the cost of operation.
TNPA is aiming to ensure security of utilities supply across its ports by 2029, with further desalination projects likely, given that the State-owned company issued a request for information in 2022 for possible desalination plants at the ports of Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mossel Bay, Ngqura, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay and Saldanha.