According to Energía a Debate, Grupo Cox, the Spanish infrastructure company, announced on August 17 that it will build the largest desalination plant in Latin America in Rosarito, Baja California, with an investment of $304 million. Awarded through public tender, the project will benefit approximately one million people in its first phase.
The project is part of Mexico's National Water Plan priority initiatives and will supply the municipalities of Playas de Rosarito and the southwest zone of Tijuana, according to Forbes México, which notes that the work was driven by the Comisión Nacional del Agua. The region currently depends on water from the Colorado River, a basin shared with the United States, so a complementary source independent of that river eases pressure on a binational resource. BNamericas reports the investment at $310 million, a figure slightly different from the company's announcement.
The first phase will include a plant with the capacity to treat 2,200 liters of water per second, adding approximately 190 million liters per day to the regional supply system, with completion expected within three years. Final capacity will exceed 4,400 liters per second, equivalent to 380,000 cubic meters of potable water per day. Cox will use reverse osmosis technology, with semipermeable membranes that separate salts and impurities from seawater. Enrique Riquelme, CEO of Cox, stated in a press release: "We continue working toward the development of infrastructure that contributes to people's wellbeing and the country's sustainable growth." The company previously built the Taweelah desalination plant in the United Arab Emirates, the world's largest by reverse osmosis.
The project, set for completion in three years, comes after the acquisition of Iberdrola México, through which Cox reinforced its presence in the country. For the northwest border region, where water is shared with southern California, the desalination plant offers a concrete path toward greater water security.
This article was drafted with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.