The Israeli government has received three bids interested to develop the Sorek B desalination plant project under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. 

The project involves the design, construction, financing, and operation of a desalination plant using reverse osmosis technology with the capacity to treat 200 million cubic meters of water per year.

The three bidders for the tender to finance, construct, and operate the plant for 25 years are:

• Israeli firm IDE (Israel Desalination Enterprises) Technology,
• Hutchison Water,
• A partnership of Afcon, Acciona and Allied Investments.

The teams have passed the detailed checks by Israeli officials of their financial, legal and technical suitability for the tender. The winning bid will also gain the right to construct a private 150 MW power station to help power the facility, to be located near Soreq.

The construction is set to start in 2020.