GE technology helps bring Australia’s largest seawater desalination plant into operation

GE’s Power Conversion business was instrumental in bringing Australia’s largest seawater desalination plant into operation by providing technology that provides a rainfall independent water supply to complement catchments and storages in the area around Melbourne, according to a press release.

The Victorian Desalination Project, 130 km southeast of Melbourne, runs on low- and medium-voltage drives and medium-voltage motors supplied by GE, noted the release.

The plant is among the largest reverse osmosis plants in the world.

It was brought online in November 2012, completed successfully the required 30-day continuous production test and reached full operation in December, three years after construction began, stated the release.

“The expertise of Degrémont in reverse osmosis technology and operations is illustrated through achieving such a rapid, incident-free commissioning phase for a project of this scale, with the milestone marking the beginning of the operational phase. We take great pride in our ability to operate such critical water infrastructure assets around the world. Our operation team, involved in the project since the beginning of the construction phase, is now ready to manage this world-class desalination plant for decades to come,” explained Rémi Lantier, CEO of Degrémont.