Egypt is preparing to tender five seawater desalination and industrial wastewater treatment plants under its public-private partnership (PPP) programme.

The projects will be offered to local and international investors through competitive PPP tenders, Atter Hannoura, head of the PPP unit at the Finance Ministry, has told a local Arabic news channel.

The first of these involves a plant in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, which will be launched “immediately after the Eid Al-Adha holiday”, Hannoura said.

In January 2025, MEED exclusively reported that SCZone Istithmar had invited interested firms to prequalify to bid for a contract to develop a seawater desalination plant in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

SCZOne Istithmar is wholly owned by the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone.

The Finance Ministry’s PPP Central Unit, along with the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, is supporting SCZone Isthithmar in the project’s tender proceedings.

The opportunity entails a long-term water-purchase agreement to design, finance, build, operate, maintain and transfer the plant’s ownership.

It was previously reported that this planned seawater desalination plant will have a capacity of 250,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

Hannoura added that the government is in negotiations with several companies, including Saudi Arabia-based Acwa, regarding large-scale desalination projects.

Additionally, the government plans to tender four industrial wastewater treatment plants, with the first two projects expected to be launched “within 45 days”.

One of these will be located in the Amreya industrial area in Alexandria, while the other will be in the Abu Rawash area in Giza, Hannoura said. Details of the other projects were not disclosed.

Alexandria wastewater treatment plant

The Authority for Potable Water and Wastewater is planning to build a wastewater treatment plant in eastern Alexandria. The $150m facility will have a water treatment capacity of 300,000 cm/d.

In June 2025, Egypt’s government approved a financing and grant agreement for the project, with financing from the French Development Agency amounting to €68m and a grant of €2m. Expression of interest documents were previously submitted in September 2024. The main contract for this plant had been expected to be released in June.
Wastewater upgrades
Separately, the Construction Authority for Potable Water & Wastewater retendered the phase four expansion of the Abu Rawash wastewater treatment plant in Giza Governorate in January.

The $157m scheme will be developed under a design, build, operate and maintain contract.

The plant will have a treatment capacity of 400,000 cm/d, rising to peak flows of 520,000 cm/d. The authority issued the initial main contract tender last August.

It is unconfirmed whether this has moved beyond the bidding stage.

Egypt currently produces between 1.5 million cm/d and 2 million cm/d of desalinated water. The country aims to increase capacity to between 8 million cm/d and 9 million cm/d by 2050.

In March, Egypt’s cabinet approved a $1.2m grant agreement with the European Investment Bank to support wastewater treatment upgrades in Alexandria and Damietta.

Part of the funding will support plans to expand the Hanovil wastewater treatment plant in Alexandria Governorate.

The project will add 50,000 cm/d of treatment capacity in two phases within the plant’s existing footprint. Once completed, the facility will reach a total capacity of 100,000 cm/d.

The grant will also support expansion works at the Kafr El-Battikh wastewater treatment plant in Damietta Governorate. The facility currently receives more than 7,000 cm/d of wastewater, while its treatment capacity is 3,000 cm/d.