Agreement at last on Ashdod water price

Israel’s national water company, Mekorot, is reported to have won its battle against the Ministry of Finance over the price of water from the upcoming Ashdod desalination plant.

According to a report in Globes on 23 February 2011, the Finance Ministry has accepted a price of NIS 2.40/m³ (US$ 0.66/m³) for water from the plant rather than the NIS 2.36/m³ (US$ 0.65/m³) it was demanding. The plant will have a 25-year operating licence.

Mekorot chairman Alex Wiznitzer is quoted as saying, “Mekorot welcomes the Ministry of Finance’s decision and will do everything it can to build the facility on time, despite the difficulties, and to supply 100 million m³/year of water beginning in 2013.”

The turnkey contract for the desalination plant in Ashdod was awarded by Mekorot’s subsidiary, Mekorot Development & Enterprise, to the IVM joint venture of Minrav Holdings Ltd and Spain’s Sacyr Vallehermoso SA unit, SADYT.