China's National Development and Reform Commission has announced it will nearly double the country's installed seawater desalination portfolio over the next five years, in a bid to balance growing industrial demand with increasingly stressed natural water sources. The commission's new five-year action plan - unveiled on 2nd June - will see the total installed capacity rise from 1.65 million m~3/d in 2020 to more than 2.9 million m~3/d in 2025. Around 84% of the incremental 1.25 million m~3/d of capacity to be built over the next five years is expected to be commissioned in water-deficient cities and coastal regions such as Tianjin, Zhejiang, Hebei, Liaoning, and Shandong, meeting the water demand from major water-consuming industries including petrochemicals, steel-making, coal-fired power, and nuclear power (see map, right). A further 200,000m~3/d of capacity is earmarked for island areas, with desalinated seawater feeding domestic water needs.
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