Orascom Construction, Arab Contractors land Jordan’s largest infrastructure project

Construction giants Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors will build Jordan’s largest-ever infrastructure project, the USD 5.8 bn Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance project (AAWDC), project director Saddam Khalifat tells Middle East News Agency.

About the project: The AAWDC project centers on building an 851k cbm-per-day facility in the Gulf of Aqaba — set to be the second-largest reverse osmosis plant in the world. From there, a 445 km pipeline network will pump the fresh water up to Amman and other governorates. To be implemented under a build-own-transfer framework, the megaproject will be partially powered by a dedicated 300 MW solar plant and is expected to cover 40% of Jordan’s drinking water needs by 2030.

Why it matters: The high interest rate environment has made building things here at home right now tough, pushing local contractors to look elsewhere. We are already seeing this trend across the Red Sea, with 25 local contracting firms recently qualifying to complete for the Saudi National Housing Company’s massive SAR 200 bn pipeline of projects.

Who does what: The Jordanian megaproject will be executed by an international consortium led by France’s Meridiam and SUEZ Group. While both Egyptian firms will handle the heavy lifting during the construction phase, Orascom has also secured the long-term operations and maintenance contract to run the facility once it is commissioned. The consortium is currently targeting a financial close for the project by July, with construction kicking off this summer.

The project is a matter of national survival for Jordan. Ranking as one of the most water-stressed countries globally, Jordan has seen its fresh water availability plummet to a mere 60 cbm per person annually. The issue has prompted the government to declare the crisis a severe national security threat that could cripple its agriculture, tourism, and industrial sectors.