Veolia–SBM Offshore desalination FPUs: water supply options for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Veolia and SBM Offshore have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop floating production units (FPUs) that integrate Veolia’s advanced reverse osmosis desalination systems with SBM’s offshore platform engineering. The FPUs are aimed at supplying freshwater to offshore and coastal industrial users, including remote mining operations constrained by onshore water scarcity and limited pipeline corridors. For mine planners and process engineers, the concept signals potential new options for securing process water without large terrestrial intakes, dams or long-distance transfer schemes.
Technical Brief
- MoU frames joint development of standardised floating desalination units for industrial-scale deployment.
- Offshore siting is intended to bypass coastal land constraints and complex onshore permitting for water infrastructure.
- Concept targets integration with low-carbon power sources on board, aligning with energy transition objectives.
- Floating configuration is aimed at modular, relocatable assets, reducing stranded-capital risk as industrial demand shifts.
Our Take
Among the 617 Mining stories in our database, there are relatively few JV-tagged items involving non-mining industrial majors like Veolia, signalling that water specialists are starting to move upstream into mine design rather than staying as downstream service providers.
In the 1,173 Projects/Sustainability-tagged pieces, most water management coverage centres on onshore brine treatment and tailings water recycling, so an offshore-focused JV with SBM Offshore suggests miners looking at coastal or island deposits may soon have more viable options to avoid competing with municipal freshwater supplies.
For operators planning remote coastal projects, a Veolia–SBM Offshore desalination JV could materially change early-stage site selection and power balance calculations, as integrating offshore RO plants can decouple process-water security from constrained onshore aquifers and local permitting bottlenecks.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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