Under the terms of the tenders, international investors have been asked to submit proposals to form a company with AEC and Algerienne des Eaux (AdE)- the body responsible for implementing national drinking water policies - for the design, construction, operation and management of desalination plants. The project companies will also own and provide financing for the plants. In each case, output from the plant will be sold to an offtake group comprising state energy company Sonatrachand AdE.

The formula of creating a project company to own and operate a plant is gaining increased acceptance in Algeria. The same method has been used for two 100,000-cm/d desalination projects at Oran and Skikda already awarded this year to a Spanish consortium led by Cobra Instalaciones & Servicios(MEED 28:5:04)

AEC plans to open commercial bids on two further similar-sized plants in east and west Algiers by the end of July .The estimated project cost for each facility is $100 million-200 million (MEED 9:4:04).