Studies start for Jordan’s first desalination plant

Jordan’s first desalination plant is expected to be operational by 2010, supplying the port city of Aqaba with 10 million m³/year, Aqaba Water Company (AWC) announced in August. The AWC has signed an agreement with Bank Muscat to study siting a plant on Aqaba’s southern coast to desalinate Red Sea water.

AWC Director General Emad Zreikat told The Jordan Times, “The tender for carrying out the study was referred to several consultants led by Bank Muscat. The study is expected to be complete in April 2009 and will be followed by an agreement to establish the plant on a build, operate and transfer basis.”

The plant will start supplying current and future investments along the southern shore with water by the second half of 2010, Zreikat said, adding that the project’s designs will also enable it to supply the central and northern shores if needed.

·A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Jordan and the UK to facilitate cooperation in nuclear energy, including for desalination of water. Jordan signed a similar cooperation agreement with the USA last September and have optimistically said they intend to operate a nuclear power plant from 2015.

· The European Desalination Society (EDS) is holding its EuroMed Conference and Exhibition at Jordan’s Dead Sea Resort in November.

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