The plant, which has a capacity of 53 million gallons a day of desalinated water, was built by the US’ GE. The company will also operate and maintain the plant for 25 years.

Hamma Water Desalination, the project company, is 70 per cent owned by GE and 30 per cent by the state-owned Algerian Energy Company.

The Hamma plant is the first large-scale reverse osmosis desalination plant to be funded by a joint venture of the public and private sector in North Africa.

The Overseas Private Investment Company, which helps US firms invest in overseas markets, provided $200m for the project.