Western Australia's Water Corporation announced today that the Southern SeaWater Alliance, which comprises AJ Lucas Group Limited, Técnicas Reunidas, Valoriza Agua and WorleyParsons, has been chosen as the preferred consortium to build and operate WA's second seawater desalination plant near Binningup.

The plant will be built in stages starting in 2009 and will begin operating in 2011. The total construction cost is estimated at $1 billion, together with a 25 year operations and maintenance contract.

Técnicas Reunidas and Valoriza Agua are world experts in water engineering and treatment processes.

Allan Campbell, Lucas' chairman, said "Lucas is very pleased to be part of this consortium and to have been chosen for such a prestigious project. We believed our design was innovative, technically very advanced and significantly reduced operating costs. We're delighted to have this confidence confirmed by our selection."

"Strategic partnerships have been an important part of our success and we very much look forward to working with Técnicas Reunidas and Valoriza Agua, two acknowledged experts in the field. Our relationship with WorleyParsons goes back many years and we are always pleased to work with them."