Aqaba Amman Water Desalination & Conveyance (AAWDC)

pending

The Aqaba Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project (the “Project”) represents Jordan’s strategic response to its water crisis and is designed to meet approximately 40% of the Country’s municipal water supply by 2040 and alleviate stress on other water resources. The Project is a Public Private Partnership (“PPP”) between the Ministry of Water and Infrastructure (MWI) of Jordan and a Special Purpose Vehicle (the “National Carrier Project Company” or “NCPC” or “Company”) created by Meridiam (90% shareholder) and Suez (10% shareholder), collectively, the “Sponsors” of the Project. IFC is part of a pool of international lenders that is considering financing for the Project. IFC is considering an A loan of up to US$ 375 million, supplemented by mobilized financing and hedging arrangements. The development of the Project concept and an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) were completed in 2022, based on the outline design. Since then, a tender process led to the award of the concession to the Sponsors who held a competitive tender for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) of the Project that was awarded to a consortium of international contractors (collectively, the “EPC Contractor”), which then led to some initial design optimization. Since early 2025, the EPC Contractor has been carrying out detailed surveys and engineering work that will lead to the final Project design and will enable the EPC Contractor to develop a detailed construction methodology and operational principles for all Project components. The construction and commissioning phases of the Project are expected to last four years and start of construction is planned for early 2026. The Project is to provide a total of 300 million cubic meters (MCM) per year of potable water to Jordanian households through the desalination of seawater from the Red Sea. The Project consists of three components: (1) marine works and desalination system, (2) water conveyance system, and (3) renewable energy facility. The marine works are located in Aqaba’s industrial port and include: the seawater intake, from which water will be pumped to the desalination plant, the discharge outfall, through which the brine resulting from the desalination process will be returned to the Red Sea, and the pipelines connecting the marine infrastructure with the desalination plant.  The water conveyance system consists of an approximately 440km long, 2.0-2.5m diameter buried pipeline and a series of pump stations and other hydraulic control structures to deliver the water from the desalination plant to the receiving facilities in Amman. The conveyance system crosses the five governorates of Aqaba, Ma’an, Tafila, Karak and Amman. Subject to final design and routing definition, the alignment of the conveyance system will generally follow existing linear infrastructure, including roads and the existing Disi Water Conveyance Project.  The renewable energy facility consists of a 281 MWp captive solar photovoltaic power plant (SPP), which will provide approximately 27% of the overall energy requirements of the Project. The SPP plant will be located in a desert area where no built-up structures exist and far from any settlements. The SPP plant will be connected to the desalination plant through an approximately 60km long overhead transmission line (OHTL) that will be constructed and operated by the Jordanian National Electrical Power Company (NEPCO). The OHTL will follow an existing energy corridor where two additional OHTLs are present. The OHTL is classified as an Associated Facility. The Project will require that two existing reservoirs in Amman be expanded to receive the additional potable water produced by the Project. The expansion work is also classified as an Associated Facility.