IDE Technologies to help build largest U.S. desalination plant

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's IDE Technologies will help construct and run a nearly $1 billion desalination plant along the coast of southern California to help alleviate the region's water shortage.

The facility, expected to begin operations in 2016, will produce 54 million gallons (204,412 cubic meters) of potable water each day, making it the largest sea water desalination plant in the United States, IDE said in a statement on Thursday.

IDE said it signed a contract with Kiewit Shea Desalination to design and supply equipment for the plant to be built near a power station in the city of Carlsbad.

The company also reached a 30-year operation and maintenance agreement with Poseidon Resources, which last week said it had secured $922 million funding for the project.

Poseidon Resources, a subsidiary of Poseidon Water, said the treated water will be delivered into San Diego County's water system.

The plant will use IDE's reverse osmosis technology, which requires less energy and is friendlier to the environment than thermal-based systems. It is part of a plan to have 7 percent of the region's water supply come from desalinated sea water by 2020, the statement said.

IDE is also helping to construct the largest reverse osmosis plant in the world in Israel. The company is jointly owned by Israeli conglomerate Delek Group and Israel Chemicals.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch)