Egypt’s Housing, Utilities & Urban Development Ministry has invited contractors to prequalify for the development of the Abu Rawash wastewater treatment plant.

The deadline for applications to prequalify for the public-private partnership (PPP) project is 14 February 2010.

The Abu Rawash plant will be developed in the Giza Governorate, to the west of Cairo. The winning bidder will take over the existing facility, which has capacity of 1.2 million cubic metres a day, and increase capacity to 2 million cubic metres a day.

Once a contract award is made, the successful consortium will design, construct, finance and operate the new and existing facilities, before transferring the plant back to the ministry at end of the 25-year contract.

The ministry began consulting firms about the project in early August, with responses from contractors and potential financial investors received later that month. The Housing Ministry is being advised by KPMG.

Egypt is currently developing its first wastewater PPP, the New Cairo plant. A consortium of Egypt’s Orascom Construction and Spain’s Aqualia was awarded the contract to develop New Cairo in May. It is now in talks with banks to finance the $470m project. Sources close to the project say financing for the scheme will be completed before the end of 2009 (MEED 3:12:09).