The project calls for the construction of a 100,000-cubic-metre-a-day (cm/d) facility at Mostagenem, at a cost of $110 million-$120 million, and two plants at Tlemcen, with capacities of 40,000 cm/d and 60,000 cm/d, at a combined cost of $115 million-120 million. The decision to build a second facility at Tlemcen was made at the end of January. Tenders will be issued following the confirmation of technical details on the Tlemcen packages, with commercial offers expected in early April for Mostagenem and late April for Tlemcen. A single contract will be awarded for the three plants.

The successful bidder will provide 60 per cent of the equity for the two project companies, with AEC providing the remaining 40 per cent. Half of AEC's share is likely to be taken up by Algerienne des Eaux ( AdE).

The deadline for the submission of bids on the estimated $60 million contract to build a 50,000-cm/d desalination facility at Jijel in the northeast has been extended from February to June. Three companies have purchased the tender documents.

Financing is being sought for a 100,000-cm/d desalination facility at Skikda, also in the northeast. The project, worth an estimated $110 million-120 million, is to be funded by a 70:30 debt/equity split. Negotiations are under way with Caja de Madridon arranging the debt package, with an agreement expected by the end of April. Aguas de Skikda ( AdS), a consortium of AEC and Geida, is the project company.

An award is expected in April on the contract to build two 100,000-cm/d facilities in Algiers. Bids for the estimated $110 million-120 million contract have been received from Canada's SNC Lavalin, Ionics, Geida, and the Inima group. Technical evaluation is under way and is due for completion by the end of March, with the public opening of commercial bids expected in early April.

All the planned projects are for reverse osmosis (RO) plants to be constructed on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis and including 25-year operation and maintenance agreements (MEED 21:1:05).