Finance Ministry takes step toward building advanced desalination facility, expected to be one of the world’s largest

The Finance Ministry takes the first step toward building an additional desalination facility expected to be the most advanced.

It issues pre-qualification documents to check the the professional, engineering, and financial capabilities of domestic and international groups interesting in bidding for a tender.

Eligible groups will compete for the design, finance, construction, operation, and maintenance of a facility in central Israel’s Emek Hefer industrial zone within the framework of a 25-year public-private partnership.

The new plant will provide 400 million cubic meters of desalinated water per year, equivalent to about 40% of the annual potable water consumption of households and industry, according to a Finance Ministry statement.

According to the statement, establishment of the plant will ensure Israel’s water security for decades to come, and might also help implementation of the Prosperity project, signed by Israel, Jordan, and the UAE in 2021. If completed, Israel would provide Jordan with 200 million cubic meters of water each year, while Jordan would supply 600 MW of solar energy to Israel.

The project has reportedly been stalled by Israel.

The tender for the new plant is expected to set advanced requirements in areas of energy efficiency, but will apparently run on fossil fuels. The statement says the tender might include an option to build a natural gas-fired power plant with a capacity of up to 300 megawatts to operate the facility.