IDE to build 2 desalination units in Kazakhstan for $14m

IDE Technologies Ltd. will build two desalination units on the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan for the production of 12,000 cubic meters of water a day for the Kazakh national power station. The facility will cost $14 million to build. It will supply water to the power station’s boilers and drinking water for the residents of the adjacent city of Aqtou. IDE is a joint venture of Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: CHIM).

The desalination units will be built in Israel, and delivered to Kazakhstan by sea and land and begin operating in late 2007.

IDE has already supplied Kazakhstan two thermal units, which produce 500 cubic meters of water a day. It has also supplied two 3,000-cubic meter units for an oil refinery in Turkmenistan.

IDE president and CEO Avshalom Felber said winning the Kazakh contract strengthened the company’s position as a supplier of water desalination solutions to Central Asia, which suffers from a shortage of water.

IDE has built 360 desalination facilities around the world. In Israel, the company is a member of the consortium operating the Ashkelon desalination facility, considered the world’s largest. The company and Housing and Construction Holding Co. Ltd. (Shikun u'Binui) (TASE: HUCN) recently won a tender to build the Hadera desalination facility.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 24, 2006

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