Egypt’s National Authority For Potable Water and Sewage, in partnership with the Ministry of Finance’s PPP Central Unit, is planning to tender contracts for three private desalination schemes in the third quarter of 2015.

The updated plans were revealed by the director of Egypt’s PPP Central Unit, Atter Hannoura, at MEED’s Mena Water conference in Abu Dhabi.

The projects include a 40,000 cubic metre a day (cm/d) desalination facility at Hurghada, a 20,000 cm/d plant at El-Tor City and an 80,000 cm/d plant, which will be located on the north coast near Alexandria.

For the Hurghada plant, the pre-feasibility study is currently being completed. The pre-feasibility study is being redone after the site for the proposed plant was changed due to concerns over the initially chosen location.

For the El-Tor project, studies are ongoing and the final scope might be expanded to 100,000 cm/d.

Hannoura said another three desalination projects were due to be tendered in the second or third quarter of 2016. A further two desalination schemes are being considered for the Suez canal corridor.

Egypt’s PPP Central Unit is also planning to oversee the development of four water treatment plants under the PPP model.

Hannoura said that the projects will be fast-tracked and that the tendering process will begin in the fourth quarter of 2015.

“At least two of them will be [tendered] in the fourth quarter of this year, and the other two in January 2016,” added Hannoura.

Two of the plants will have a potable water treatment capacity of 70,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), one will have a capacity of 90,000 cm/d and the largest plant will have a capacity of 150,000 cm/d.

The PPP body is preparing to open commercial bids for the Abu Rawash wastewater treatment plant in mid-June.

The PPP body had originally planned to award the contract at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh in March, but delays with technical evaluations prevented the opening of the financial bids.

The CAPW and PPP Central Unit received bids for the contract in late January, and is currently considering proposals from Kuwait’s Kharafi National and a consortium consisting of the local Orascom Construction, Spain’s Aqualia, France’s Veolia and the local Icat.