Hutchison group opts out of Ashdod desalination tender

In a last minute surprise, the Hutchison group has withdrawn its bid to build a water desalination plant in Ashdod for the Mekorot water utility.

Its sudden walk-out leaves its partner, Israel Desalination Engineering (IDE), all by its lonesome in the race against oter forbidding contestants.

The other participants in the tender include the BGS Group, which includes Housing & Construction, Global Environmental Solution of the Granite Hacarmel group, Shapir Civil and Marine Engineering and Baran; and IVM, which includes the Spanish firm Sadyt and Minrav Engineering.

Veolia and Tahal had been in the running, but dropped out.

The fact that the tender will include three contenders ensures that the timetable will be short and efficient, says Mekorot chairman Eli Ronen.

Mekorot published the international tender to build a desalination plant about six months ago. The turnkey project for planning and construction of the sea water desalination plant will cost about $400 million.

The 65-dunam facility, to be located in Ashdod's northern industrial zone, will have a production capacity of 100 million cubic meters of water annually. The plant will be operated by Mekorot Yizum, a subsidiary of the national water supplier, under a B.O.T. (build, operate, transfer) contract with the state for a period of 25 years, after which it will be returned to the state for free.