Despite objections: The tender for the construction of the largest desalination plant in Israel is underway

The Accountant General's Department at the Ministry of Finance has published the pre-qualification documents for the international tender for the construction of the desalination plant in Emek Hefer, which is expected to be the largest in Israel and one of the largest of its kind in the world. According to estimates by professional sources, the cost of its construction, together with a power station that will be operated by natural gas and will produce up to 300 megawatts, may amount to about 5-6 billion shekels.

The Treasury's progress toward publishing the tender is taking place even before the planning process for the mega-project has been completed. The National Infrastructure Committee (NIC) is still examining the objections submitted to the plan by environmental organizations and the Emek Hefer Regional Council and held a series of discussions on the subject last month. Following the Ministry of Finance's moves, the council called for an immediate freeze on the proceedings, claiming that the state is trying to establish facts on the ground even before the planning institutions have ruled on the objections submitted to them.

"This move, even before the work of the NIC has been completed, is invalid and contrary to the essence of a public planning process," stated the Emek Hefer Council, which is also considering turning to legal channels to stop the move. "We demand to freeze the tender until the planning process is completed, including providing answers to the objections submitted. The construction of the plant will be a source of regret for generations, and the state's actions raise heavy questions about the integrity of the process and the interests behind it," said the head of the council, Galit Shaul.

The desalination plant planned to be built in the Emek Hefer industrial zone will produce about 400 million cubic meters of desalinated water per year. This is an output that constitutes about 40% of the fresh water consumption of households and industry in Israel in an average year. When built, it will be the eighth desalination plant in Israel.

The planned plant will be unusual, and not only because of its size - four times larger than a standard desalination plant. Unlike the plants built in the last two decades in proximity to the coastline, the plant in Emek Hefer is planned to be built several kilometers east of it. According to estimates, the seawater intake point will be about two kilometers out at sea, and from there, additional piping about three kilometers long will be required on land to the plant itself. The distance from the sea and the scope of the accompanying infrastructure are expected to increase the cost of the project.

The tender documents allow for the construction of a natural gas-powered power station with a capacity of up to 300 megawatts alongside the desalination plant. It is intended for the self-production of the huge amount of electricity that the desalination plant will require. The plant itself is planned to be built on an area of about 200 dunams, and alongside it, the construction of storage facilities, pipelines, and additional infrastructure will be required. According to estimates, the construction project will take about seven years.

While the state's original plans spoke of building a plant that would produce about 200 million cubic meters of water per year, its scope was doubled to 400 million cubic meters in order to meet future needs and the increase in demand for water expected with the growth of Israel's population, while reducing dependence on natural water sources and precipitation due to global warming. According to the Ministry of Finance, the large production capacity of the planned plant will also allow for the expansion of cooperation with Jordan in the field of water as part of the Prosperity Blue project.

The tender is being promoted using the PPP method, so the chosen franchisee will be responsible for the design, financing, construction, operation, and maintenance of the plant for 25 years. In the first stage, the financial, engineering, and professional capabilities of groups from Israel and abroad will be examined, and only those who meet the pre-qualification conditions will be able to compete in the tender itself. The pre-qualification stage is expected to last about half a year, and about two months later, the tender itself should be published.

According to the Director of the Water Authority, Yehezkel Lifshitz, the planned plant "will allow us to provide a forward-looking response to the needs of the population, agriculture, and industry," and according to the Accountant General at the Ministry of Finance, Michal Abadi-Boiangiu, "the plant that will be built will be the largest of its kind in the world and will bring about a revolution in the Israeli water sector." Sources in the Treasury involved in the construction plan for the plant in Emek Hefer claimed that the need to advance the statutory procedures on the subject stems from the complexity of the project, and in any case, the details of the final tender that will be published in about eight months will be determined according to the decisions of the NIC.