Renewable Energy Desalination and Automation in Global Water Infrastructure

Water utilities globally face increasing constraints due to urban growth, reduced rainfall, and aging infrastructure. To secure fresh water supplies, municipalities and engineering contractors are modernizing operational capacities. These modernization projects focus on improving energy efficiency, accelerating deployment timelines, and increasing processing volumes without expanding labor requirements.

Modernizing Electrical Infrastructure in Morocco
In Morocco, a national water security initiative involves the construction of 13 desalination plants by 2030. One of the largest facilities in Africa, scheduled to become operational in 2027, will be powered entirely by renewable energy.

The main electrical contractor for the facility, Ferri Systems, required a technical solution for the plant's 16 motor control centers and main switchboards that could adhere to strict high-performance specifications. The contractor selected modular CUBIC panel systems from Rockwell Automation and utilized technical support to construct the electrical centers.

The modular design features a small footprint that contributes to lower overall energy consumption and reduces the time required for final assembly. Technical support from Rockwell Automation spanned from the pre-design phase through temperature rise calculations, engineering, and assembly supervision, ensuring the electrical infrastructure met the necessary energy efficiency parameters.

Expanding Treatment Capacity in California
In San Bernardino, California, the Inland Empire Utility Agency manages end-to-end water services, including wastewater treatment, water recycling, groundwater recharging, and composting across seven municipalities.

The agency faced the operational challenge of expanding one of its five existing facilities while simultaneously bringing a new biosolids facility online. To manage this expansion, the utility standardized its operations on Rockwell Automation hardware and software solutions, including a unified distributed control system.

The automation platform allowed the utility to increase its water treatment capacity and operational efficiency while maintaining stable staffing resources. Following the initial implementation, the agency initiated the expansion of an additional facility using the same automation framework, aiming to increase treatment capacity to 44 million gallons of water per day.

Edited by Evgeny Churilov, Induportals Media - Adapted by AI.

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