Jordan, one of the most arid countries in the world, has signed an agreement with French-led investors to construct a major desalination plant, touted as one of the largest globally, reports The New Arab.
According to the state-run Petra news agency, this marks the country’s largest-ever infrastructure project. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan informed Parliament that the project is valued at more than $5 billion.
The initiative is led by French infrastructure specialists Meridiam, in collaboration with SUEZ, Orascom Construction, and VINCI Construction Grands Projets.
On its official website, Meridiam stated that the plant would provide over 300 million cubic meters of drinking water annually to Amman and Aqaba, benefiting more than three million people.
“This project will increase the total annual available domestic water supply by almost 60 percent for households,” Meridiam noted, adding that it would include approximately 445 kilometers (276 miles) of pipelines to transport desalinated water from the Red Sea.
Jordan’s Water and Irrigation Minister Raed Abu al-Saud highlighted the “transformative potential” of the project, describing it as a significant development in Jordan’s water security. He remarked that it would “mark a significant shift in Jordan’s water security landscape,” as reported by Petra.
The project is expected to take about four years to complete, according to the prime minister's recent statements.
This agreement follows Jordan’s decision to abandon a previous plan to connect the Dead Sea and the Red Sea through a pipeline system.
In 2013, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians had signed a memorandum of understanding for that initiative, which included constructing a desalination plant at the Red Sea. However, growing discontent in Jordan over the stagnation of peace talks between Israel and Hamas led to a shift in priorities. In June 2021, then-water minister Mohammad al-Najjar declared that the Red Sea-Dead Sea project was “now a thing of the past.”
