The decision will affect arrangements made for the financing of existing contracts. Caja de Madrid and Spanish export credit agency Instituto de Credito Official (ICO) had been mandated to arrange the $77 million debt package on a planned 100,000-cubic-metre-a-day (cm/d) plant in Skikda. Project company Aguas de Skikda, a consortium of AEC and Spanish group Geida, is understood to be assessing its options. Financing from Spanish banks was also being sought for a seawater reverse osmosis (RO) facility at Beni Saf, also run by a Geida/AEC consortium.

Deadlines for commercial offers for new capacity at Zeralda, Cap Djinet, Mostagenem and Tlemcen are to be delayed until documentation on the new project finance structure is finalised. Interested parties expect the new deadlines to be announced in September. AEC has cancelled the estimated $60 million project to build a 50,000-cm/d plant at Jijel. The planned facility may be replaced by another in the west of the country (MEED 11:2:05).