The agreement was finally signed in Israel on 8 August 2011 to establish Israel’s fifth large seawater desalination plant at Ashdod through Mekorot Development & Enterprise, a spinoff of the national water agency.
Finance minister Yuval Steinitz and national infrastructure minister Uzi Landau signed the agreement with Mekorot chairman Alex Vijneitzer.
Ashdod will produce 100 million m³/year of water, approximately 15% of domestic water consumption, from 2013 at a rate of NIS 2.4/m³ (US$ 0.67/m³).