Encina power station sale will not affect desal plant plans

By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer | Friday, December 30, 2005 11:13 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD ---- The proposed sale of the Encina Generation Station will have little effect on planning and construction of a seawater desalination plant at the same Carlsbad facility, a company official said Friday.

"The effect will be little to none," said Peter MacLaggan, senior vice president of Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources Corp. "The lease runs with the land ... and passes with the sale of the property."

NRG Energy Inc. has agreed to buy the Encina station and three other older power plants in California as part of a $160 million deal with Dynegy Inc., the companies announced Wednesday. The change in ownership will not affect operations or employees at the Encina facility, Carlsbad's landmark power plant, a company spokesman said.

MacLaggan said Poseidon has had an excellent working relationship with both companies. NRG has been the site operator at the power generation plant, and MacLaggan said he anticipates continued cooperation when NRG takes 100 percent ownership sometime this spring.

"It does streamline our approval process somewhat with one more entity out of the loop," MacLaggan said.

Now in its sixth year of planning and development, the $270 million desalination plant is expected to begin producing drinking water in late 2008, MacLaggan said. The desalination plant will sit on a 4-acre site at the Encina Power Station next to Agua Hedionda Lagoon.

A functioning pilot plant on the site produces about 40,000 gallons of drinking water each day, MacLaggan said. Seawater is filtered through sand to remove solid particles, then filtered again to remove microscopic particles. Then the seawater is passed through membranes with tiny pores that block dissolved salts, but allow highly pressurized seawater to pass through. This process, known as reverse osmosis, is the most common method of desalination.

The filtered seawater is pushed through the outside edge of the membrane sheets, which are wound in spirals like rolls of paper towels, but much more tightly. Desalinated water emerges from the hollow core.

The leftover brine, twice as salty as seawater, is pumped back into the ocean, using the power plant's outflow pipes. This method of piggybacking off the power plant's intake and outflow is the same method that the operational plant will use in order to minimize its environmental impact.

Capable of producing more than 50 million gallons of drinking water a day from seawater, the proposed plant will provide a stable supply of high-quality drinking water to Carlsbad residents. MacLaggan said the company also has distribution agreements with the Olivenhain Municipal Water District and the Rincon Del Diablo Municipal Water District.

The plant will supply about 8 percent of the county's water, reducing the county's dependence on Colorado River drinking water.

MacLaggan said the desalination process is similar to the process that the region's high-tech enterprises use to purify water for biotech and other processes that require high-quality water.

"The water we're able to produce is much higher quality than what is coming out of the tap today," MacLaggan said.

The plant's desalinated water will not carry the concentrations of calcium carbonate that Colorado River water has, officials said, adding that the lack of calcium carbonate, which clogs water heaters, coffee pots, shower heads and other appliances, will extend the life of such appliances.

Poseidon is seeking final certification of the study of the effects of the plant on the local environment in mid-February from the Carlsbad Planning Commission. Also up for approval are several local permits.

MacLaggan said he hopes to get several state permits this spring as well. The permits are some of the final steps before taking the project for approval before the California Coastal Commission in late 2006.

If all goes well, Poseidon will begin construction in 2007, and begin delivering water in late 2008.

The city of Carlsbad will get about $2 million a year in tax revenues, plus another $500,000 in sale taxes, MacLaggan said.

Staff writer Brad Fikes also contributed to this story. Contact staff writer Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or pireland@nctimes.com.

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