Hitachi-led consortium receives $240m EPC order for water desalination plant in Iraq

Hitachi, in a consortium with OTV, a subsidiary of the French environmental service company Veolia Environment and The Arab Contractors, has received a JPY25bn ($240m) contract for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a large-scale water treatment desalination plant in Basrah, Iraq.

Awarded by the Iraqi Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, the order will also include operation and maintenance (O&M) management for a period of five years.

In the consortium, Hitachi will act as the project leader, using its experience in construction and renovation of water desalination plants.

The plant will supply purified water to the city of Basrah, which is second largest city the country, as the current water infrastructure is inadequate to meet the population’s needs.

Existing water purification facilities can supply about 400,000m³ per day, compared to the requirement of 900,000m³ per day.

The new plant will draw water from nearby river and provide fresh water using reverse osmosis technology.

Construction, which is scheduled to begin in February 2014, is expected to be complete by July 2016.

This will be Iraq’s largest level of capacity of single water purification plant, capable of supplying 199,000m³ of fresh water per day.

Funds for the desalination plant will be provided by Iraqi government from internal sources.