Chile's Largest Desalination Plant Approved
- Antofagasta’s environmental commission unanimously approved CRAMSA’s Aguas Marítimas project on May 4, clearing Chile’s biggest desalination plant after four years in review. - The project pairs a 700,000 m³-a-day plant with a 480 km pipeline, 17 pump stations, and roughly US$5 billion in spending. - It could shift northern Chile further away from scarce inland water and toward desalinated supply for cities, mines, and industry.
Water is the whole story in northern Chile. Cities need it, copper and lithium operations need it, and the region does not have much to spare. That is why this approval matters. On May 4, Antofagasta’s environmental commission gave unanimous approval to CRAMSA’s Aguas Marítimas project — a US$5 billion desalination and water-transport system that would become the biggest plant of its kind in Chile. (latercera.com) ### What was approved? The green light covers much more than a coastal desalination plant. CRAMSA wants to build a 700,000 cubic meter-per-day facility near Caleta Bolfin, south of Antofagasta, plus a roughly 480 km distribution network to move desalinated water inland toward Antofagasta, Sierra Gorda, and Calama. The plan also includes 17 pumping stations, about 350 km of power lines, and 21 substations. (latercera.com) ### Why is the pipeline such a big deal? Because the hard part is not only making freshwater from seawater. It is moving huge volumes of it across the desert and up in elevation to where people and industry actually are. This project is basically a desalination plant attached to a regional water hi(latercera.com)e. (latercera.com) ### Who is supposed to use the water? The target users are broad. CRAMSA says the system is meant to supply Antofagasta, Sierra Gorda, and Calama, with water for mining, industry, agriculture, and potentially human consumption through existing utilities. That multipurpose design is important — the project is not pitched as a single-mine solution, but as shared infrastructure for a region where water stress touches almost everything. (cramsa.cl) ### Why does this matter in Antofagasta? Because Antofagasta is one of the driest places on earth and also one of the world’s most important mining regions. Copper and lithium extraction pull on the same water system that cities and farms depend on. Chile has been pushing desalination harder for years as a way to reduce pressure on continental and groundwater sources, especially in the north. This approval(cramsa.cl)cale. (t13.cl) ### How big is “big” here? Big enough that even Chilean coverage framed it as the largest desalination project approved in the country, and one of the largest in Latin America. The environmental authority also treated it as a milestone because it is the biggest investment approved since 2018, when Teck’s Quebrada B(t13.cl)ry. (latercera.com) ### When would it actually start working? Not soon. The approval is a major hurdle cleared, but the buildout is long. Reporting around the decision says construction is expected to start in 2027 or 2028, with an initial distribution phase around 350,000 m³ per day before ramping to the full 700,000(latercera.com)timated around 8,500 to 8,550 jobs. (latercera.com) ### Was approval straightforward? Not entirely. The project entered environmental review in March 2022 and spent more than four years in the system before this week’s approval. It also hit a pause in late 2025 after regulators asked for more work tied to the chinchilla lanigera, a native Andean rod(latercera.com)ions. (latercera.com) ### So what changed now? The key change is that Aguas Marítimas moved from concept to permitted mega-project. That does not put water in a pipe tomorrow. But it gives northern Chile a credible path toward replacing more scarce inland water with desalinated supply at regional scale. The bottom line is simple — if CRAMSA actually builds what it just got approved to build, the water map of Antofagasta changes.
