The Third Vice President and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, met in Barcelona with the Minister of Climate Action, David Mascort. At the meeting, Ribera reported on the preparations for the transportation of water by boat to Barcelona from the Sagunt desalination plant (in Valencia) to face the emergency situation in the central region of Catalonia, including areas of Girona and the Costa Brava. , due to the drought. Her forecast is that this transportation will not be immediate”, but rather “towards the summer” if it does not rain at the necessary levels. Meanwhile, a stage opens to organize logistical preparations and analyze the evolution of the emergency. The hypothesis being considered is to transport about 20,000 cubic meters a day from Sagunt to Barcelona
Minister Ribera indicated that to face an extreme emergency "the simplest, clearest and most prepared option, both technically and administratively, is the Sagunt desalination plant." "We are going to work on the hypothesis that is most at hand and that is most intelligent to use," she stated.
In this way, it ruled out a possible connection of the Ebro supply network in Tarragona with the metropolitan area network. "We do not make hypothetical plans for other alternatives."
Sagunt's infrastructure is now operating at 10% of its capacity. Therefore, what is going to be done is to expand the potential of this equipment.
The current pipeline for connection to the ship can only transport 7,200 m3 per day at most, so it will be expanded to 20,000 m3 per day.
From Sagunt, the water would reach the port of Barcelona, where it would be landed in a pipeline to connect to the tanks of the Aigües de Barcelona company for distribution.
The number of ships used will depend on various factors, among others it depends on the type of ship, since these tankers have a capacity of between 20,000 and 40,000 cubic meters, according to the minister. In the hypothesis that ships of this maximum capacity were hired, each shipment would represent the consumption of 8% of the daily total in the Barcelona area (500,000 cubic meters).
"The desalination plant produces 20,000 m3 a day, therefore we could load a ship a day there," said the councilor. Two ships would be involved in these routes (one unloads here and the other loads at the source of the water); For this reason, the councilor points out that, in the case of an extreme emergency, perhaps a second supply point (a second desalination plant) would have to be found.
The option that is open now is to transport one boat per day. Loading a boat in Sagunt involves a task that lasts about 12 hours, which determines the entire pace of the loading.
The initial forecast is that this operation will be activated towards the summer, when a more advanced phase of the emergency may enter if it does not rain.
“The simplest, most viable and fastest solution” is transportation from Sagunt, reiterated the minister, who indicated that “now we have a few weeks” to prepare the devices in case it is finally necessary to resort to this possibility.
“Sagunt's infrastructure does not compete with other uses, it is now an underused facility,” he added.
“This Government will do what is necessary wherever it is necessary. And this goes for both Andalusia and Catalonia; “We will accompany those who have problems to guarantee water supply to citizens,” said the minister.
Minister Mascort declared that desalinated water is an emergency solution and did not rule out having to use water from other desalination plants. "We will have everything ready in case it is necessary," he said.
The cost of water at source will be assumed by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition while transportation by boat and connection in the port of Barcelona would be paid to the Generalitat. "We will assume the cost of the connection facilities," said the councilor.
Councilor Mascort declared that desalinated water is an exceptional and non-structural measure that would be activated in case of strict necessity to ensure the functioning of "the strategic facilities of the metropolitan area of Barcelona in the event of the most extreme emergency."
"We will have boats and (connection) facilities ready; and we will go wherever we need to to look for water," Mascort said.
On the other hand, the central and regional administrations have agreed on the financing system for the Tordera II (Blanes) and Foix/Cubelles desalination plants. The works will be paid for with Next Generation funds, through credits that will be returned by the Generalitat and that will involve the recovery of costs, so that in the end the users will end up paying them in the water bill.
"This cost recovery is already occurring in all the hydraulic infrastructures managed by the public company Ter," declared Minister David Mascort, accepting the offer and the minister's philosophy (who promised the same formula for the new desalination plants in Andalusia).
The Tordera II desalination plant project will be put out to tender this year, the works will begin next year and will conclude in 2028. The Foix/Cubelles plant would finish in 2029. The works will be directed by the public company Acuamed (although the projects will be by the Generalitat) and will require processing before the council of ministers.
The new calendar for the Tordera desalination plant represents a delay compared to the dates that the Catalan Water Agency was considering last year.
Total investments amount to 287 million euros in the case of Tordera II and 180 million in the case of Foix/Cubelles. And its capacity is 60 hm3 and 20 hm3 respectively.
The project is put out to tender by Acuamed, because any other formula would entail more delays. In this way Acuamet will execute the work.
The president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón, has given his approval to this approach out of solidarity between communities.
The Government's willingness to transport water by boat from the State desalination plant comes after various social sectors have expressed their rejection of transporting water by boat using funds from the Ebro mini-transfer concession in Tarragona.
Sagunt's option – or what could be called the 'Spanish solidarity solution' – postpones the alternative consisting of connecting the Consorci d'Aigües de Tarragona network (water from the Ebro) to the Barcelona metropolitan network, as four professional associations have claimed. and Foment del Treball, among other sectors.
President Carlos Mazón received a call from Minister Teresa Ribera on Saturday and he indicated that he had shown his support for this decision by invoking “solidarity between regions.” He also obtained guarantees that the water desalinated in Valencia and transported will have a priority and almost exclusive use for domestic consumption, as corresponds to the emergency situation.
Meanwhile, the reservoirs in the Barcelona region continue to fall; They accumulated 98.61 hm3 of reserves this Monday, a figure below the 100 hm3 that marks the emergency threshold in grade I, and they only store 16.1% of their total capacity. However, shipping by ship would have limited potential. If it will be carried out in ships with a capacity of 40,000 m3, it could contribute 8% of the daily consumption of the metropolitan area (500,000 m3), according to sources familiar with this type of operations.
Sources from the Department of Climate Action admitted on Saturday that there have been contacts between Acuamed (the state company that manages the Sagunto plant) and the public company Ens d'Abastament d'Aigua Ter-Llobregat (ATL), which would be in charge of coordinating the tasks to carry water from Valencia to Catalonia.
On Thursday of last week, Minister Mascort already warned that “the complicated thing is finding boats.” And regarding the meeting that he will have with Ribera, he expressed hope in finding "the formula to bring water to Barcelona if necessary." “I have said many times that the relevant thing is not where it comes from, but that when we need it we can go look for it and have it ready,” he remarked.
The Valencian solution comes after the president of Aragón, Jorge Azcón, requested by letter an “urgent meeting” with the minister to express his rejection of any interconnection of the Ebro water network in Tarragona with Barcelona, labeled as “transfer ”.
