Consolidated Water and Subsidiary, PERC Water, Win $204 Million Contract to Design, Build, Operate and Maintain a Seawater Desalination Plant in Hawaii

News Release from Consolidated Water, 6/6/2023

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, June 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CWCO), a leading developer and operator of advanced water supply and treatment plants, announced its indirect subsidiary, Kalaeloa Desalco LLC (which is jointly owned by the company’s wholly owned subsidiaries PERC Water Corporation and Consolidated Water U.S. Holdings, Inc.), has signed a definitive agreement (DBOM Agreement) with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply (BWS) to design, build, operate and maintain a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant. Consolidated Water has separately guaranteed the performance of Kalaeloa Desalco to BWS for the term of the DBOM Agreement.

The plant will be located in the Kalaeloa Regional Park District on the Island of O’ahu in Hawaii and situated on the site of the former Barbers Point U.S. Naval Air Station.

Kalaeloa Desalco will develop, permit, pilot, design and construct the facility during the first 44 months of the DBOM Agreement. The plant will be capable of producing potable water from saline source water derived from seawater wells. Kalaeloa Desalco has guaranteed to deliver 1.7 million gallons of potable water per day to BWS’s water system on a 24/7 basis. After commissioning, Kalaeloa Desalco will operate and maintain the plant for the following 20 years and potentially during two five-year optional extensions.

The company expects revenue generated over the approximate 24-year base term of the contract to total about $204 million in current dollars. Approximately $149.6 million of the revenue is expected to be generated during the development, permitting, piloting, design and construction phase over the first 44 months of the DBOM Agreement. The construction fee is subject to a cost adjustment based on changes in certain material and labor cost indices at the time that pilot testing, permitting and design are complete and construction commences.

Operating fees to be earned by the company are estimated to be approximately $2.7 million annually in current dollars and will be adjusted annually for changes in certain other materials and labor indices over the 20-year term of the operating phase of the DBOM Agreement. These estimated revenues may change based on the outcome of the development, piloting, permitting and design phases of the project, as well as the values of the above-mentioned materials and labor cost indices at the time that construction and operations commence.

This plant will be the 24th seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant that Consolidated Water has constructed and the first in the U.S.

“As our first desalination plant in the U.S. that is also under our longest-term contract, this milestone win represents a significant affirmation of the world-class design, construction and operational services that Consolidated Water provides,” stated company CEO, Rick McTaggart. “We believe winning this contract was due to our 50 years of experience designing, building and operating some of the world’s most energy-efficient seawater desalination plants, as well as the exceptional project track record that our team was able to demonstrate to BWS. Key members of the project team include Nordic PCL Construction, Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering, and Bowers + Kubota Consulting.

“We also believe this entrance into the U.S. desalination plant market positions us well for the additional opportunities we are pursuing in the Western U.S., a region that continues to experience unprecedented drought conditions.”

In the surrounding area where the plant will be located, potable water demand is expected to increase from about 24 million gallons per day in 2019 to nearly 27 million gallons per day by 2030, according to O’ahu’s Water Master Plan published by the Board of Water Supply. The new Kalaeloa desalination plant is expected to help meet this anticipated growing demand for potable water.

  *   *   *   *   *

About Consolidated Water Co. Ltd.

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. develops and operates advanced water supply and treatment plants and water distribution systems. The company designs, builds and operates seawater desalination facilities in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands, and designs, builds and operates water treatment and reuse facilities in the United States. The company also manufactures and services a wide range of products and provides design, engineering, management, operating and other services applicable to commercial and municipal water production, supply and treatment, and industrial water and wastewater treatment. For more information, visit www.cwco.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "believe", "estimate", "project", "intend", "expect", "should", "will" or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to (i) continued acceptance of the company's products and services in the marketplace; (ii) changes in its relationships with the governments of the jurisdictions in which it operates; (iii) the outcome of its negotiations with the Cayman government regarding a new retail license agreement; (iv) the collection of its delinquent accounts receivable in the Bahamas; and (v) various other risks, as detailed in the company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting the company’s Secretary at the company’s executive offices or at the “Investors – SEC Filings” page of the company’s website at http://ir.cwco.com/docs. Except as otherwise required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

BWS: Kalaeloa Seawater Desalination Facility Design-Build-Operate-Maintain & Related Engineering Services

MSN: Consolidated Water’s stock shoots up toward a 15-year high as Hawaii desalination contract prompts analyst upgrade

REALITY: Desalination is an expensive energy hog

Advisian: The Cost of Desalination