Drought in Sicily, first mobile desalinators delivered

The first mobile desalinators of the three planned for the Porto Empedocle (Agrigento), Gela (Caltanissetta) and Trapani sites have been delivered. This was announced by the Sicilian Region, the Regional and National Commissioner for Water Scarcity, Siciliacque and Acciona Agua, which built them. The first 18 containers have already arrived in Porto Empedocle and Gela, while the modules for Trapani are scheduled to be delivered on 18 June. The three desalinators will later be joined by the revamping of the fixed plant in Porto Empedocle.

The overall interventions were financed by the Region with 100 million euro and also include land and sea connection works. Coordination of the activities was entrusted to Commissioner Nicola Dell'Acqua, at the Region's request. The mobile desalinators will produce 96 litres of water per second each, using reverse osmosis technology and advanced filters.

Siciliacque, a company owned by Italgas (75%) and the Sicilian Region (25%), the implementer of the desalination plants project, is currently completing the preparatory work to accommodate the plants, the installation of pipelines to connect to the water network, and other works related to the operation of the equipment. At the same time, as the manager of the supra-regional water service, it is carrying out a major multi-year investment plan for more than EUR 250 million to improve the resilience of the region's major water backbones.

For Renato Schifani, President of the Sicilian Region, 'the delivery in record time is the result of a precise political and administrative choice by the Region: we have allocated the resources and decided to rely on the structure of the national commissioner and Siciliacque to guarantee speed, effectiveness and transparency. It is a concrete response to an unprecedented emergency, which we are tackling with a strategic vision. But I want to be clear: these plants are not the only solution. They are part of a broader plan that the Region has already launched, with more than 200 interventions on wells, springs, lifting plants, aqueducts and water networks, for a total investment of more than 100 million euro'.

Stefano Mereu, Siciliacque's CEO, added: "The desalination plants are part of a broader plan that also includes the construction of new sources and interconnections, new aqueduct sections, extraordinary maintenance and replacement on existing sections starting from Ancipa, Blufi, Garcia and Fanaco, digitalisation of the entire network and plant system, and the revamping of power plants for energy efficiency. The renewal of Siciliacque's shareholding structure, which took place at the end of 2023 with the entry of Italgas, has made it possible to develop a new development strategy based on a system approach and the introduction of innovative technologies.