Construction is due to begin this quarter of 2014 and should be completed within 30 months.
Limited water resources and conflict over its use have made water a crucial resource for Iraq's development, especially in the country's south. Water in this part of Iraq is mainly sourced from the Euphrates, which has a high salt content, and from the Persian Gulf.
Under the new contract, won in partnership Hitachi and Egyptian engineering firm ArabCo, Veolia will build and operate a desalination plant with an ultrafiltration unit and reverse osmosis membranes. It will produce 200,000m3 cubic meters of drinking water a day. The desalination plant will be completely autonomous in terms of electricity, with its own generators.
This contract will create 300 jobs for the construction of the desalination units, and 50 jobs for the facility's operation for five years.
“This new contract that we have won in Iraq is further proof of Veolia's ability to deliver concrete and reliable solutions to the scarcity of water resources and the challenges facing large cities, especially in countries where water is crucial to economic development," said Antoine Frérot, chairman and CEO of Veolia Environnement.
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