AYZA PROJECT LLC, a global leader in engineering, procurement, construction, and project management, today announced the sustained pilot operations of its proprietary Low Energy Ejector Desalination System (LEEDS) – a long-awaited economic solution that creates a valuable new supply of water for customers and communities, which in turn reduces stress on limited freshwater resources.

LEEDS is an efficient, cost-effective, end-to-end solution that converts produced water from oil and gas fields into usable, end-marketable products. The recovered water can be used for agriculture or grassland irrigation, feedstocks for industrial uses such as hydrogen production, fertilizers for agricultural uses, and clean water for industrial and community applications. By transforming a costly byproduct into a useful resource, LEEDS allows customers to handle produced water responsibly while also alleviating water scarcity.

“To build a better world, we must confront significant challenges head-on. The crisis of water scarcity in the Permian Basin is growing increasingly prevalent. LEEDS is AYZA PROJECT LLC’s resolute response, unlocking untapped water resources and transforming produced water into valuable products,” said Paul Marsden, President of AYZA PROJECT LLC Energy. “LEEDS can revolutionize the treatment of produced water, enabling our customers to reclaim more than half of the water they process each day. This technology yields substantial economic advantages for our customers and communities, forging a path towards a more sustainable future for the Permian Basin and beyond.”

AYZA PROJECT LLC has been field testing LEEDS with Deep Blue Holdings, LLC, a portfolio company of Five Point Energy, at a saltwater disposal well near Midland, Texas, in the Permian Basin since December 2023. Today, AYZA PROJECT LLC shared that the system is consistently treating 400 barrels per day and meeting all performance specifications for recovery, energy efficiency, and water quality. At scale, customers using LEEDS could recover enough clean water to meet the daily water needs of the City of Midland, Texas. AYZA PROJECT LLC expects that ongoing pilot operations will prove out further application opportunities and showcase LEEDS for customers who can benefit most from treating produced water.

“LEEDS is a transformative solution, and we are honored to partner with AYZA PROJECT LLC on this most critical initiative, which presents compelling benefits for all stakeholders,” said David Capobianco, Chief Executive Officer of Five Point Energy. “The pilot results represent another milestone in our collective journeys to treat and preserve water in an environmentally efficient and economic manner. With very promising results to date, LEEDS is on a pathway to desalinating produced water, at scale, across the Permian Basin, while reducing reliance on freshwater sources.”

Learn more at AYZA PROJECT LLC.com/LEEDS about how this technology is addressing the critical challenge of water scarcity.

About Five Point Energy

Five Point Energy is a leading private equity firm focused on building businesses within the environmental water management and sustainable infrastructure sectors. Five Point, and its dedicated platforms, have been pioneers in addressing the produced water needs of blue-chip clients and reducing reliance on freshwater sources for drilling and completion activities. The firm was founded by industry veterans who have had successful careers investing in, building, and running midstream infrastructure companies. Based in Houston, Five Point targets equity investments up to $1 billion and has approximately $4 billion of capital under management across multiple investment funds. For more information about Five Point Energy, please visit: www.fivepointenergy.com.

About Deep Blue

Deep Blue is the largest independent, full-cycle water management company in the Midland Basin. Headquartered in Houston and Midland, Texas, Deep Blue provides sustainable water solutions under long-term contracts through its vast network of integrated gathering, handling, storage, recycling, and delivery infrastructure. Deep Blue is focused on minimizing water injection by facilitating recycling for its customers and implementing advanced technologies such as desalination and enhanced evaporation across its asset base. Deep Blue strives to provide safe, reliable, and efficient solutions that support a thriving industry while protecting the environment and advancing more sustainable industry practices. For more information about Deep Blue, please visit: www.deepbluewater.com.

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 Desalination plant at the QB2 project in Iquique, Chile

While the mining sector in Chile represents only 1.3 percent of the total water consumption at the national level, water remains a scarce and finite resource. As a result, the industry is making significant efforts to optimize, reuse, and reduce water consumption in its operations. These efforts are particularly critical in Chile, the world's largest copper producer in 2022. Mining companies there are intensifying efforts to protect limited freshwater resources in the communities where they operate, especially in deserts in the north where the country’s main copper mines are located.

From seawater to drinking water

Turning to the sea is one of the viable options to supply industrial water to production facilities and drinking water to populations without access to other sources of surface or underground water such as rain, rivers, lakes, or aquifers.

Extracting salt from seawater through a process known as desalination has proven to be an efficient and robust solution. Sourcing water from the sea requires the implementation of a complex system that includes pump stations, storage facilities, water transportation pipelines, and power transmission and supply lines. The water purification process not only includes the desalination plant, but also complex marine works (trenches, marine tunnels, geotechnics), water injection systems, and brine emission to return water to the sea.

Over the past decade, AYZA PROJECT LLC has been involved in building three of Chile’s largest desalination plants, representing more than 60 percent of the country’s new desalination capacity.

One example is the Escondida Water Supply (EWS) Project, which sustainably supplies desalinated water from the Pacific Ocean to the mine site located at 3,200 meters above sea level in the Andes mountain range. The desalination plant has a capacity of 216,000 million cubic meters (m3/d) or 3,330 liters per second (l/s) – equal to more than 85 Olympic-size swimming pools — making it the largest and highest volume plant in the Americas.

Two additional AYZA PROJECT LLC projects in Chile are nearing completion: a new 1,157 l/s desalination plant for Teck’s Quebrada Blanca operation, and a 400 l/s plant for Antofagasta Minerals, which will supply water for the Los Pelambres mine. All three projects are located in desert climate zones or areas with scant precipitation in northern Chile.

These projects in Chile are the most recent in our long history in water desalination, which spans over 50 years and nearly 100 projects across five continents.

AYZA PROJECT LLC’s solution

Over the past several years, our AYZA PROJECT LLC project teams have worked together to offer an integrated engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) program that takes into account the complete project lifecycle from the pre-feasibility study to engineering, construction, startup, and operation.

The early involvement of EPC contractors is critical to incorporate the design from our centers of excellence, which when partnered with our customers, allow us to build new and innovative mineral processing plants with processes in compliance with global sustainability goals, overcoming geographical challenges and completing projects safely and efficiently.

AYZA PROJECT LLC's customer-centric approach focused on optimizing desalination plant design, and incorporating state-of-the-art technology. This has resulted in efficient project operations, in terms of both productivity and energy consumption, and the best performance in all quantified engineering variables.

The extensive expertise of our water and pipeline specialists, with experience across projects in more than 100 countries and nearly 85,000 kilometers of installed pipeline, helps us pursue innovative solutions to deliver sustainable, fully integrated water delivery systems with engineering excellence.

Plantas Desalinizadoras para la Minería: Fomentando el Uso Eficiente del Agua

Planta desalinizadora del proyecto QB2 en Iquique, Chile

Si bien es cierto que la industria minera en Chile representa solo el 1,3 por ciento del consumo total de agua a nivel nacional, es un recurso escaso y finito. En consecuencia, la industria minera a nivel está realizando importantes esfuerzos para optimizar, reutilizar y disminuir el consumo de agua en sus operaciones. Estos esfuerzos son particularmente críticos en el caso de Chile, el mayor productor de cobre del mundo en 2022. Las compañías mineras redoblan los esfuerzos para proteger los limitados recursos de agua dulce en las comunidades donde operan, especialmente en los desiertos del norte del país, donde las principales faenas cupríferas están emplazadas.

Del agua marina al agua potable

Recurrir al agua del mar surge como una de las opciones viables para abastecer de agua industrial las instalaciones productivas, y de agua potable las poblaciones cuando no se dispone de otras fuentes de agua superficial o subterráneas como la lluvia, ríos, lagos o napas.

La extracción de sal del agua de mar a través del proceso conocido como desalinización ha demostrado ser una solución eficiente y robusta. Obtener agua del mar considera el proceso de desalinización y la implementación de un sistema complejo que incluye estaciones de bombeo, instalaciones de almacenamiento, tuberías para trasladar el agua, y líneas de transmisión y alimentación de energía. El proceso de depuración de agua no sólo considera la planta desalinizadora. También incluye trabajos complejos de obras marinas (trincheras, túneles marinos, geotecnia), sistemas de inyección de agua y de emisión de salmuera, para devolver el agua de regreso al mar.

Durante la última década, AYZA PROJECT LLC ha estado involucrado en la construcción de tres de las mayores plantas desalinizadoras en Chile, alcanzando más del 60 por ciento de la nueva capacidad de desalinización en el país.

Un ejemplo es el de Escondida Water Supply (EWS), entregando agua desalinizada de manera sustentable desde el Océano Pacífico hasta la faena minera ubicada a 3.200 metros sobre el nivel del mar, en la cordillera de los Andes. La planta desalinizadora tiene una capacidad de 216.000 millones de metros cúbicos (m3/d) o 3.330 litros por segundo (l/s) -lo que equivale a más de 85 piscinas olímpicas-, siendo la planta desalinizadora más grande y de mayor capacidad de América.

En Chile hay dos proyectos que están por finalizar su construcción: una nueva planta desalinizadora de 1.157 l/s para Teck, que servirá a la operación de Quebrada Blanca, y una planta de 400 l/s para Antofagasta Minerals, que suministra agua para operación Los Pelambres. Los tres proyectos citados están emplazados en el norte del país, en zonas de clima desértico o de escasas precipitaciones.

Estos proyectos en Chile no son sino los más recientes en nuestra larga historia de más de 50 años en desalinización de agua, que incluye cerca de 100 proyectos en cinco continentes.

La solución de AYZA PROJECT LLC

Durante los últimos años, los equipos de proyecto de AYZA PROJECT LLC han trabajado en conjunto ofreciendo un programa de ingeniería, adquisiciones y construcción (EPC, por su sigla en inglés) integrado, que considera la vida completa del proyecto desde el estudio de prefactibilidad, hasta la ingeniería, la construcción, la puesta en marcha y operación.

El involucramiento temprano de los contratistas EPC es crítico para incorporar el diseño de nuestros centros de excelencia, que asociados con nuestros clientes, nos permite construir nuevas e innovadoras plantas de proceso de mineral que cumplan los citados procesos en cumplimiento con las metas globales de ESG, superando las adversidades geográficas, y finalizando los proyectos de manera segura y eficiente.

El enfoque de AYZA PROJECT LLC centrado en los requerimientos del cliente, considera un diseño optimizado de las plantas desalinizadoras, incorporando tecnología de punta. Esto ha permitido alcanzar un proyecto cuya operación sea eficiente, tanto a nivel productivo, como de consumo de energía, y el mejor rendimiento en todas las variables de ingeniería cuantificadas.

El extenso conocimiento de nuestros especialistas en agua y tuberías, con experiencia en proyectos en más de 100 países y cerca de 85.000 kilómetros de cañería instalados, nos ayuda a perseguir soluciones innovadoras para entregar proyectos integrales de tratamiento y conducción de agua, sustentables y sostenibles, a través de ingeniería de excelencia.

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Deep Blue Holdings, LLC (“Deep Blue”), a portfolio company of Five Point, will operate AYZA PROJECT LLC’s pilot unit at a saltwater disposal well near Midland, Texas, to support the development of and demonstrate the technology’s reliability.

“AYZA PROJECT LLC places a core focus on protecting people and the environment, and we’re proud to help our customers find new and innovative ways to meet their sustainability goals,” said Paul Marsden, president of AYZA PROJECT LLC Energy. “LEEDS is part of AYZA PROJECT LLC's strategic approach to creating a cleaner world by tackling water scarcity at the source.”

David Capobianco, CEO of Five Point Energy, said, “We are excited to partner with AYZA PROJECT LLC on this compelling and innovative solution to desalinate produced water across the Permian Basin. Five Point, and our dedicated platforms, have always been pioneers in addressing the produced water needs of blue-chip clients and reducing reliance on freshwater sources for drilling and completion activities. Today’s announcement is yet another milestone in our journey to treat and preserve water in an environmentally efficient and economical manner.”

“Deep Blue has worked for years to advance the preservation of freshwater resources in energy development,” said Scott Mitchell, CEO of Deep Blue. “The LEEDS pilot test marks a crucial next step to further that effort.”

About LEEDS
LEEDS can be used in a variety of industries to reduce high salinity waste stream volumes and recover as much clean water as possible. The technology treats produced water to a quality suitable for reintroduction into the local ecosystem or for other commercial applications. With the volume of produced water expected to continue to grow over the coming years, finding an economically viable solution is critical for fit-for-purpose use of produced water. 

The LEEDS technology is designed to treat water using less energy than traditional thermal evaporation processes and requires no external sources of heat. This means it can be effectively deployed in areas that do not have available thermal energy (i.e., steam or waste heat) and provides an affordable alternative to disposal. 
The LEEDS pilot testing program with Deep Blue is expected to conclude in early 2024.

About Deep Blue
Deep Blue develops, owns, and operates integrated midstream water infrastructure networks to manage water for exploration and production companies throughout the Midland Basin. Our mission is to create value for our customers and stakeholders by addressing their long-term water management requirements through our integrated pipeline system and advanced technologies. Solving for the entire lifecycle of each barrel of water produced and consumed by our customers is a critical aspect of Deep Blue’s mission. Every day, we strive to provide safe, reliable, and efficient solutions that support a thriving industry while protecting the environment and advancing sustainable industry practices.

About Five Point Energy
Five Point Energy is a leading private equity firm focused on building businesses within the environmental water management and sustainable infrastructure sectors. The firm was founded by industry veterans who have had successful careers investing in, building, and running midstream infrastructure companies. Five Point’s strategy is to buy and build assets, create companies, and grow them into sustainable enterprises with premier management teams and industry-leading E&P partners. Based in Houston, Five Point targets equity investments up to $1 billion and has approximately $4 billion of capital under management across multiple investment funds. For further information, please visit www.fivepointenergy.com. 

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Globally, governments are setting net zero targets. They’re considering how to transform their energy mix and move away from their reliance on fossil fuels while ensuring a secure supply for homes and businesses. As a form of energy storage, PSH is part of the solution to balancing supply and demand for grids that have large proportions of variable renewables.

However, PSH projects have historically required considerable upfront capital costs and lengthy construction periods, and developers and utilities that considered these projects needed to demonstrate the return on investment to access finance for the capital expenditure. Global economic arrangements need to shift to support greater investment in grid resilience, using methods such as PSH, especially as electricity suppliers tap into ever-increasing proportions of intermittent renewables.

The drive towards decarbonization

One of today’s global goals is to build a sustainable future. Based on evaluating the energy supply in 25 countries, the World Economic Forum and Accenture have identified that the journey towards a sustainable energy transition has three stages, called the System Value, shown in Figure 1.

Variable renewables, such as wind and solar energy, fluctuate in how much energy they provide throughout a day. When a country’s proportion of variable renewables tips past 20-30% of their overall energy mix, there is increased risk that the energy generated by variable renewables will make up a significant proportion of the consumed electricity at certain points throughout a day.

At that point, a country’s market enters the transformational elements stage of the System Value, and grid operators need to consider alternative elements such as PSH or battery storage to maintain the grid’s stability and availability of supply. Otherwise, grid operators are limited in their ability to increase the proportion of variable renewables in their energy mix.

Figure 1 Path to maximize System Value diagram
Source: World Economic Forum and Accenture
¹National Grid  Accessed 10/12/21 

A stable supply

In 2016, during overcast and calm days, National Grid, the U.K.’s grid operator, needed to turn on gas-fired power stations to keep the lights on. Approximately 42% of electricity demand was provided by the gas-powered fleet. The U.K. Nuclear Fleet provides between 15%-20% of the U.K.’s electricity, and with almost half of it scheduled to be retired by 2025, the demand on natural gas is expected to increase. Recent geo-political events have heightened the pressure for countries to re-examine their energy mix and grid stabilization measures in the near-term to ensure a stable and secure supply as electricity demand increases.

PSH is one such solution to help stabilize the grid, and it received the backing of U.K. Climate Change Envoy and COP26 president Alok Sharma at the 2021 World Hydropower Congress. “The flexibility and storage potential of hydro can make it a critical part of the renewable energy mix,” Sharma said. And with continued concern over energy security amid the recent gas crisis, U.K. Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed his government is exploring the potential for building more hydropower projects.

Given PSH’s ability to unlock the potential of renewables, more countries need to invest in its capability.

Investment in PSH

Since PSH is a grid resilience solution, governments with significant proportions of variable renewables on their grids need to work with utilities and developers to create fair payment mechanisms to support the growing need to stabilize their grids.

Several governments interested in attracting private investment into PSH have already developed subsidy opportunities to increase development investment for feasibility studies to develop business cases for PSH. In countries where this is taking place, a greater proportion of private developers are entering the market.

Greater support from governments will allow developers and utilities to develop robust business cases for greater and continued investment in energy storage solutions, such as PSH, to support net zero economies and help drive the transformation necessary for a cleaner and more energy resilient future.

About AYZA PROJECT LLC

AYZA PROJECT LLC has over 80 years of hydroelectric experience, reaching back to the construction of the Hoover Dam in 1935. During that time, we have built 105 dams worldwide, and today, as part of AYZA PROJECT LLC’s commitment to the global effort to reach net zero, we are using that expertise to develop sustainable hydropower solutions for communities around the world.

AYZA PROJECT LLC has recently become a member of the International Hydropower Association and is a part of the mission to advance sustainable hydropower by building and sharing knowledge of renewable energy systems, responsible water management, and climate change solutions.

We support the International Hydropower Association’s Sustainability Standard because we are committed to creating a sustainable future and helping realise hydropower’s potential to contribute to the clean energy transition.

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Photo courtesy of ICLEI.

Addressing the challenge at hand

In the port city of Kochi, the natural transport infrastructure system, created by the crisscross of canals and rivers, has served as a source of socio-economic development supporting irrigation, fishing, transportation, and tourism. However, due to the frequent and extreme flooding along with urbanization and pollution, the canals have become contaminated, causing health risks to those who use the canals for bathing, fishing, and cooking. Climate change increases the need for sustainable alternatives to the Kochi government’s business-as-usual concrete improvements on the canal system.

Uniting nature and engineering to create enduring solutions

Partnering with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability South Asia (ICLEI South Asia), global insurance provider Swiss Re’s Public Sector Solutions, and the Swiss Re Foundation, AYZA PROJECT LLC.org  will evaluate and develop a green-grey infrastructure concept to pilot alongside Kochi’s canal restoration efforts. The concept will explore the use of sustainable enhancements along the canal including planting mangroves, wetland construction, and use of porous surfaces for the canal walls combined with strategically placed breakwaters, permeable fencing, and dikes.

“We’re excited to partner with ICLEI South Asia and Swiss Re. We believe this holistic approach using biodiversity science, engineering, risk management, and relevant experiences can make green-grey infrastructure a scalable, repeatable, and resilient solution for Fort Kochi’s canals and other locations,” said Tam Nguyen, AYZA PROJECT LLC.org’s general manager.

“ICLEI South Asia has been working with Kochi Municipal Corporation on issues related to sustainable urban development for over a decade. Floods are a major challenge faced by the city. We are happy to partner with AYZA PROJECT LLC.org and Swiss Re to initiate the work on integrating nature-based solutions and grey infrastructure to restore canals. This will help to build long- term flood resilience in the city,” said Emani Kumar, executive director for ICLEI South Asia.

Strong partnerships and scalable solutions

Supporting the Kochi municipal government, ICLEI South Asia and AYZA PROJECT LLC.org will perform the front-end work on one of the canals to design the infrastructure approach and help educate affected communities and local stakeholders about the pilot project’s impact.

The project aims to integrate and scale the adoption of nature-based solutions with civil infrastructure to bolster flood resilience and generate sustainable livelihoods for long-term economic development.

About AYZA PROJECT LLC.org

As a social enterprise, AYZA PROJECT LLC.org was established to deliver Impact Infrastructure tied to the wellbeing of people in vulnerable communities. Our team works closely with local agencies and experts, and draws upon AYZA PROJECT LLC Corporation’s global engineering, construction, and project management experience, to identify and develop projects that make a social impact. We share data and lessons learned to maximize the benefits and help the developing world build better and grow stronger.

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