FINAL REPORT Evaluation of Seawater Desalination Projects ...

EVALUATION OF SEAWATER DESALINATION PROJECTS
PROPOSED FOR THE MONTEREY PENINSULA
per year for vacant land and $.10 (ten cents) per square foot for the open water
holding tanks on the twenty (20) acre “premises” site. On the first day of the
beginning of the fourth year of the lease, and on the first day of every year of the
lease, or the Lease extension, thereafter, the base rent shall be increased at a rate of
5% per year. . .
(b) In addition to the base rent, Tenant agrees to pay Landlord, as partial rent for
subject Premises, including the intake and outfall pipeline and flow capacities, an
amount for each acre foot of potable water produced for municipal or human use or
consumption as follows:
i. A base payment of $100 per acre-foot for each acre-foot of potable water
produced by Tenant for municipal, agricultural, or human consumption during the
term of this lease.
ii. Beginning on the first day of Year Three (3) after the first day that potable
water is produced and sold for commercial consumption for municipal, agricultural,
or human uses, the base payment shall increase at a rate of 10% per year for every
year of the lease from the beginning of Year Three until the end of Year Ten. The
adjusted rate per acre-foot shall increase thereafter (beginning in Year Eleven) at a
fixed rate of 5% per year for each remaining year of the lease or its extension.
iii. Payment for the first 50,000 acre feet of water to be produced by Tenant
shall be prepaid to Landlord on or before the first day that potable water is sold by
Tenant for commercial consumption by municipal, agricultural, and human use. ...”
Based on the above agreement, a cost of $2.24 million per year (22,400 acre-feet x $100 per
acre-foot, plus per-square-foot charge for the “base rent”) would ensue once the plant is in
operation.
In response to MPWMD’s requests for further detail, Poseidon Resources offered to provide
certain portions of that information only on a confidential basis to MPWMD’s consultants.
Poseidon Resources executed a Confidentiality Agreement with Bookman-Edmonston (B-E)
and Separation Process Inc. (SPI). Subsequently, Poseidon Resources provided SPI and B-E
with a breakdown of total capital and O&M costs and other project information requested by
MPWMD.
The capital cost breakdown for the desalination facilities generally follows the list for the
desalination plant. While the estimate is subject to the confidentiality agreement, Poseidon
has indicated the Total Capital Cost figure can be disclosed. That figure is $132,000,000
(interestingly, in 2005 dollars vs. 2006 in the CDR). No bases for the values are provided
that would indicate the level of estimate that this reflects (screening, conceptual, preliminary,
etc.). Discussions with Poseidon on this point indicate the component values were derived
from quotes received on other projects with substantially similar equipment, albeit different
size. It is the reviewer’s assessment that the component values are reasonable and generally
in their expected ranges. However, it is not possible to assess if the contingency amount is
appropriate without specific knowledge of the source of the component cost estimates.
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District 5-11