In April 2018, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that Fluence had obtained US$48 million in loans from the North American Development Bank (NADB) to fund a seawater desalination plant in San Quintin, Baja California. The loan covered 75 percent of the cost, with Fluence and local partners providing the rest through a project company. The plant was to supply 22,000 m³/day to the state water agency CEA for 30 years. Construction was planned for the third quarter of 2018, with a build time of 20 months.
The report showed that plant suppliers such as Fluence were increasingly acting as financiers and operators, carrying desalination projects off their balance sheets through project companies.