Sorek Desalination (SDL), a consortium formed by IDE Technologies (51%) and Hutchison Water International Holdings (49%), has signed agreements to secure $400m in project financing to construct and operate the Sorek desalination plant.
The financing is from the European Investment Bank, Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi.
SDL was recently selected by the Government of Israel to build and operate the Sorek desalination plant, which, with a total planned capacity of 150 million cubic meter/year.
The Sorek Sea Water Reverse Osmosis facility, which will be constructed under the build-operate-transfer model, is expected to be complete in 2013.
The plant, which will be approximately 100,000sq mt, will deploy advanced membrane desalination technology, including the use of 16-inch membranes for the first time in a large-scale facility.
Water produced from the plant will be delivered directly to Israel’s national water distribution system.