Delivery partners locked in for SA Eyre Peninsula Desalination Plant

Acciona has been signed as the major construction partner for a new desalination plant in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula and works are now ramping up. 

The project will deliver a reverse osmosis desalination plant at Billy Lights Point to provide a climate-independent source of sustainable drinking water for the region’s 35,000 SA Water customers. 

SA Water and Acciona have been working hand in hand to refine the project’s design to determine the final cost of building the desalination plant as quickly as possible and while incorporating critical stakeholder feedback to minimise environmental impacts. 

Alongside continued global inflationary pressures, important changes have resulted in a revised project cost of around $470 million. 

The Malinauskas Labor Government approved plans to deliver a sustainable long-term water source for the region last year. 

SA Water is also partnering with McConnell Dowell to deliver associated marine infrastructure, which will be delivered in addition to a 5.3 gigalitre-per-year desalination plant to be constructed by Acciona. 

Meanwhile, South Australia-based company Leed will be undertaking the design and construction of the transfer pipeline that will deliver safe, clean drinking water from the new plant to the existing water distribution network. 

“The Eyre Peninsula Desalination Plant will deliver a secure source of water for more than 35,000 SA Water customers and will support jobs and future-proof the region. 

“Both Acciona and McConnell Dowell helped deliver the successful Adelaide Desalination Plant and will bring invaluable experience to this vital project for the Eyre Peninsula. 

“We’re delivering this infrastructure upgrade without placing extra financial pressure on households. 

“The project is well underway, and we will deliver the first water from the new plant by the end of 2026 – which will be welcome news to residents who have suffered through years of unnecessary delays by the former Liberal Government,” Minister Nick Champion said. 

Source: SA Water

The project’s final design includes constructing the plant’s marine pipeline infrastructure by tunnelling under the shoreline and inter-tidal areas to provide additional protection to the coastline and marine environments and locating the intake and outfall pipes – used to draw and return seawater to the plant – in deeper waters. 

SA Water’s customers’ bills will not be impacted by the project’s cost adjustment. The additional expenditure will be managed through a re-prioritisation of the utility’s broader existing state-wide capital works program. 

Importantly, the Eyre Peninsula’s recently announced 2025-26 groundwater allocation for the Southern Basin – responsible for 75 per cent of the region’s drinking water – is sufficient to meet current demands. 

This reaffirms that water restrictions on SA Water customers are not required, and residents are encouraged to continue using water efficiently around their property. 

Source: Government of South Australia – News; SA Water; Inside State Government