Water Infrastructure
French-led Consortium to Build $6B Water Desalination and Pipeline Project in Jordan
One of the most water-stressed countries on the planet is due to see a boost in water supply by the end of the decade. Construction is underway on a $6-billion water desalination and pipeline project that promises to ease chronic water restrictions in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
A consortium led by French engineering firms Meridiam and Suez and including France’s Vinci Construction and Egypt’s Orascom Construction signed a 30-year concession agreement in January 2025 with Jordan’s Ministry of Water and Irrigation under a design, build, finance, operate, maintain and transfer model. The private-public partnership will result in construction of the world’s second-largest desalination facility, a 450-km water conveyor between the Jordanian port of Aqaba on the Red Sea and Jordan’s capital, Amman, and a solar energy farm that will supply the project with around 28% of its energy needs. The group is to have the project up and running by 2029.
The Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project is the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken in Jordan and is viewed as essential for the country’s 11 million people, many of whom have limited or restricted access to water. The ministry joined with Meridiam and Suez to form the National Carrier Project Co., a special purpose company mandated to develop and implement the water project.
Thierry Déau, founder and CEO of Meridiam, told ENR by email that Suez is “grateful and proud to have been selected, together with our partners, to deliver water to Jordan. This essential, transformative and landmark project will provide a reliable and long-term sustainable solution to Jordan's water challenges,” he said, adding: “It will make a significant contribution to meeting the critical daily fresh and potable water needs of the Jordanian people.”
Jordan consumes about 1 billion cu meters of water annually and individuals have only 90 cu meters available to them, Meridiam said in a statement. “Once fully operational, the project will supply up to 40% of Jordan’s drinking water needs, providing a reliable water source for more than 3 million people and significantly enhance the country’s long-term water security,” Suez told ENR.
Currently potable water supply is rationed in some parts of Jordan.
According to the project company website, the Jordan project is “a national priority due to its importance in delivering a long-term, reliable and sustainable water solution."
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The Aqaba desalination plant will produce 851,000 cu meters per day of potable water from seawater using reverse osmosis technology. For environmental protection, the plant will use a special deep-water intake to avoid coral reef larvae and a high-velocity brine discharge system to ensure salt levels return to normal within 20 to 50 meters of the outlet.
The conveyor will run east to the Disi aquifer near the border with Saudi Arabia. Jordan has been drawing on the Disi aquifer for water supply since 2013. An existing water pipeline runs north from the aquifer to Amman and the new conveyor will run parallel in the same corridor.
Five high-capacity pumping stations will be needed to lift the water from sea level to an elevation of more than 1,000 meters. The existing storage facilities at Abu Alandra and Al Muntazah will be expanded to accommodate the increase in supply. It is hoped that once the Aqaba-Amman pipeline is complete, it will allow Jordan to reduce water use from the Disi aquifer.
The consortium will also undertake construction of a new, dedicated solar power farm in the Al-Quweira region that will provide 281 MW of power. Vinci and Orascom, as primary engineering, procurement and construction partners in the consortium, will undertake responsibility to build it. They are also to construct a 60-km power transmission line.
Financing for the project is also complete. The project has secured its $5-billion to $6-billion budget, and financial close is expected during early 2026. The Meridiam-Suez consortium is responsible to provide a 15% private equity portion for project construction. Other financing will come from the Green Climate Fund, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, International Finance Corporation and grants and loans from a number of countries.
