Israel's IDE Technologies said on Jun 29 it had signed a second contract with Chinese electricity generation plant Tianjin SDIC for four additional desalination units, doubling the plant's desalination capacity.

Each unit has production capacity of 25,000 cubic meters per day of distilled water, for a total additional capacity of 100,000 cubic meters daily. This will result in total daily capacity of 200,000 cubic meters, making it China's largest desalination plant, IDE said.

IDE, which is jointly owned by Israel Chemicals and the Delek Group conglomerate, did not provide financial details.

Located near Beijing, the Tianjin SDIC plant is being built to generate 4,000 MW of electricity to meet the growing needs of Tianjin city and alleviate electricity shortages in northern China.

The IDE units will provide the desalinated seawater required for use in the power plant's steam boilers, as well as drinking water for local residents.

The ability of the units to re-use waste heat generated by the power plant reduces total desalination costs, while also minimising the plant's discharge of heat into the atmosphere.

"This ambitious project strengthens our position in the strategic China market, and in the Asia Pacific region as a whole, which has been a focus of our activities for more than two decades," said Avshalom Felber, IDE's chief executive.