Jordanian government is set to award the contract for the first phase of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (Red-Dead) early next month, said a report citing a government official.

A total of 17 international alliances are in the race for the coveted project, which will see up to 2 billion cu m of seawater getting transferred from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea annually, reported  The Jordan Times.

Construction is planned to start during the first quarter of next year, it stated.

The scope of work includes a seawater intake structure; an intake pump station; a seawater pipeline; a desalination plant with a capacity of 65-85 million cu m per year; a desalination brine conveyance pipeline; two lifting pump stations; hydropower plants; and discharge facilities at the Dead Sea, said the report.

The Water Ministry is studying the pre-qualification proposals and a technical committee is now in the final process of studying and evaluating the proposals, he stated.

Jordan had in 2013 signed a MoU with Israel and Palestine for the implementation of the first phase of the Red-Dead project, a mammoth development estimated to cost around $10 billion.

As per the agreement, Palestine will receive 30 million cu m of freshwater to cover its water deficit, while Israel will buy its share of 50 million cu m of desalinated water from the project at cost value and sell Jordan the same amount of water in the northern Jordan Valley at a cost of JD0.27 per cu m.

Jordan will receive an additional 50 million cu m of water from the Lake Tiberias Reservoir annually to be added to its share from the desalination station to provide Aqaba with water.

Under Phase One, a total of 300 million cu m of water will be pumped each year, said the report.

A total of 85-100 million cu m of water will be desalinated every year, while the seawater will be pumped out from an intake located in the north of the Gulf of Aqaba, it added.