Current Desalination Technology in China

Seawater desalination is an important technology great potential to alleviate the water shortage problem. As mentioned, the central government has set a target to strengthen the country’s desalination capacity. In addition to increased desalination capability, up to 220 million cubic meters per day, a target was set for 70% of processing equipment to be manufactured domestically. It is estimated that this policy will create RMB8.6billion revenue for desalination equipment and material suppliers.

Currently, over 80% of seawater purification projects in China use membrane technology. In an interview in China Daily, Mr. Xu, a representative of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, stated that China’s seawater desalination has made remarkable progress in recent years by using membrane technology.

This technology is more economical than other methods (such as extraction and evaporation) because it consumes less energy. He also commented that seawater desalination has been utilized in China for more than 60 years and that breakthroughs have been made in this industry in the past 10 years.

However, the industry isn’t free from challenges. A representative from China Membrane Industry Association said that the two challenges for the industry’s development are the price gap between desalinated water and tap water, and the energy consumed and pollution generated from the desalination process. Therefore, any new technology that can improve seawater desalination efficiency and effectiveness would be welcome in the Chinese market.

Highlights and Insights

The Chinese government is determined to reform and further enhance its water supply and sewage system. Currently, Beijing Enterprise Water is the largest company with the operation of 101 waste water treatment plants, 20 tap water supply plants, 4 reclaimed water plants and 1 water desalination plant, spread over 25 cities. It is believed that the water management market is continuing to increase in pace with economic and population growth, therefore this is a prime potential market for foreign water management companies, with expertise in this field, and for investors. The Chinese market is large and the local water management technology still lags behind other markets.

The Chinese sewage management market had achieved a capacity of treating 1.5 million tones of waste water daily during the 11^th Five Year Plan (2006-2010). The central government was positive about this result and has further increased the water and waste water treatment market budget to US$4.54 billion in the 12^th Five Year Plan (2011-2015). This is double the amount invested in the 11^th Five Year Plan. This is a good sign for those companies holding advanced technologies in the water management domain. The central government and local water management players also expect that cooperation with foreign experts can enhance their water processing productivity and efficiency.