One of the most water-stressed countries on the planet should see a boost in water supply by the end of the decade. A $6 billion water desalination and pipeline project is under construction 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 public-private partnership will result in the construction of the world’s second largest desalination facility, a 450 km water conveyor belt between the Jordanian port of Aqaba on the Red Sea and the Jordanian capital, Amman, and a solar power farm that will supply the project with around 28% of its energy needs. The group must have the project up and running by 2029.
The Aqaba-Amman Water Transport and Desalination Project (AAWDCP) is the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken in Jordan and is considered essential for the country’s 11 million people, many of whom have limited or restricted access to water. The ministry teamed up with Meridiam and Suez to form the National Carrier Project Company (NCPC), a special purpose company tasked with developing and implementing AAWDCP.
Meridiam founder and CEO Thierry Déau 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 long-term reliable and sustainable solution to Jordan’s water challenges,” he said, adding: “It will make a significant contribution to Jordan’s daily fresh and potable water needs.”
Jordan consumes about 1 billion cubic meters of water a year and individuals have only 90 cubic meters available, 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 improving the country’s long-term water security,” Suez told ENR.
Drinking water supplies are currently rationed in some parts of Jordan.
According to NCPC, AAWDCP is “a national priority because of its importance in providing a long-term, reliable and sustainable water solution,” the company’s website says.
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The Aqaba desalination plant will produce 300 million cubic meters, or 851,000 cubic meters per day (CM/day) of potable water from seawater using reverse osmosis technology. For environmental protection, the plant will use a special deep-water dam to avoid coral reef larvae and a high-speed brine discharge system to ensure that salt levels return to normal between 20 and 50 meters from the outlet.
The conveyor belt will run east to the Disi aquifer near the Saudi Arabian border. Jordan has been tapping 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 to the same corridor.
Five high-capacity pumping stations will be needed to raise the water from sea level to an elevation of more than 1,000 meters. The existing storage facilities at Abu Alandra and Al Muntazah need to be expanded to accommodate the increased supply. Once completed, the Aqaba-Amman pipeline is expected to allow Jordan to reduce water use from the Disi aquifer.
The consortium will also undertake the construction of a new dedicated solar energy farm in the Al-Quweira region that will provide 281 MWp. Vinci and Orascom, as the consortium’s lead engineering, procurement and construction partners, will assume responsibility for building the solar park. They also have to build a 60 km power transmission
Project financing has also been completed. The project has achieved its budget of US$5 billion to US$6 billion and financial close is expected in early 2026. The Meridiam-Suez consortium is responsible for providing a 15% private equity share for the construction of the project. Other funding will come from the Green Climate Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and numerous grants and loans from various countries.
