The nation's largest desalination plant is to be built at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park to help meet the growing demand for water there, a government official said yesterday.
According to the official with the Council for Economic Planning and Development, the proposal was adopted at a meeting held Monday.
It was decided that the Ministry of Economic Affairs will offer a parcel of land for the build-transfer-operate (BTO) project in cooperation with the private sector, which will be in charge of operations of the facility upon completion of its construction, the official said.
The planned desalination plant will be the country's largest, with a projected capacity of more than 27,215 tonnes of fresh water per day for the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park, which relies heavily on a sufficient water supply to sustain normal operations.
Council Vice Chairman Chang Ching-sen (
Chang pointed out that it is increasingly difficult to maintain stable water supplies for the high-tech park in the face of a growing threat of dry spells due to the worsening disparity in rainfall across the country in recent years.
Citing an initial assessment by the council, he said that each water meter unit of the desalination plant will cost an additional NT$1.5 and that many companies based in the park have shown a keen interest in its construction.
Estimates by water resource authorities show that it is necessary to explore alternative sources to satisfy the long-term need for fresh water in the Hsinchu area. Underground water, which has in the past been the major source for emergency use, is gradually running out, they noted.
Government authorities will open bidding to the public by Nov. 15 to invite a qualified private investor to participate in the construction project and an investment accord will be signed between the two sides by June next year. Overall completion of the project and trial operations are scheduled for December 2006.
Ownership of the plant will be returned to the government 20 years later after it has paid the private investor the total construction spending in installments.
The construction plan will carry a price tag of NT$1.788 billion (US$52.5 million) and the government will, starting from 2007, return NT$176 million per year to the investor through to the end of the 20-year installment plan.
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