Jordan lines up bidders for Aqaba-Amman mega-project

摘要

Jordan is looking to name five bidding groups next month as it seeks to accelerate the huge Aqaba-Amman water desalination and transfer project to bring water to the northern part of the country. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said that it was on the cusp of starting the bidding process for the project, which will involve the production of 250-300 million m~3/yr (~685,000-820,000m~3/d) of desalinated water at Aqaba, plus the construction of transmission facilities that will eventually use the water to supply all parts of the country. It now hopes to bring the first stage of the project online by 2025 or 2026. The main issue facing the project, which will be developed using private finance on a build-operate-transfer basis, is the level of capital finance involved.