San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) named Poseidon Water an “Energy Champion” for 2016. Poseidon was selected as the Water Energy Nexus Champion for their investments in, and commitment to, sustainability and energy efficiency at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. To reduce energy consumption at the desalination plant, Poseidon employs 144 state-of-the-art energy recovery devices that are able to save an estimated 146 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per year and reduce carbon emissions by 42,000 metric tons annually – a saving roughly equivalent to removing 9,000 passenger vehicles from the roads. Throughout the last six months of commercial operation the plant has been operating at 11 percent below the energy consumption guarantees in the Water Purchase Agreement with the San Diego County Water Authority. The operation of the Carlsbad desalination facility does not generate greenhouse gas emissions of any kind; however, Poseidon’s precedent-setting Energy Minimization and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan offsets air emission’s associated with the plant’s purchase of electricity – a first for a large-scale water treatment plant in California. In the first six months of operations the Carlsbad Desalination Plant used 2 million pounds of recycled CO2 in the water treatment process, which converted the CO2 to harmless compounds and prevented an equivalent amount of CO2 from escaping to the atmosphere. Additionally, Poseidon is developing 66 acres of new coastal wetlands and has invested $1 million to plant trees after the 2003 wildfires that ravaged Cuyamaca National Forest. “The water from the Carlsbad plant is truly the only drought-proof supply available to San Diego, it is not dependent on local rainfall or snowpack in the Sierras,” said Graham Beatty, Poseidon Water Director, Project Management and Finance. “Poseidon is committed to providing sustainable, fresh and clean drinking water to San Diego in an environmentally responsible manner.” Watch Poseidon’s 2016 Energy Showcase Champion video here. Today, the Carlsbad Plant is the largest, most technologically advanced, energy efficient and environmentally sound seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. The Plant runs 24/7/365 and produces 50 million gallons of high quality drinking water each day – enough to meet the needs of approximately 400,000 San Diegans. To date the plant has produced and delivered over 7 billion gallons of fresh, drinking water into San Diego County.