The owners of Israel's three private desalination plants last week offered to the inter-ministerial desalination committee to boost output by 57 million cubic meters a year, 25% of their current aggregate output. The plants are at Ashkelon, Palmachim, and Hadera.
The VID consortium of IDE Technologies Ltd. and Veolia Water SA, proposed to boost output of its 105-million cubic meter desalination plant at Ashkelon by 15 million cubic meters a year. IDE is owned in equal shares by Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL).
The Via Maris Desalination Ltd. consortium, owned by Granite Hacarmel Investments Ltd. (TASE: GRNT) and Gaon Agro Industries Ltd. (TASE: GAT), proposed to boost production at its 30-million cubic meter facility at Palmachim by 15 million cubic meters a year.
The H2ID consortium, owned by Housing and Construction Holding Co. Ltd. (Shikun u'Binui) (TASE: HUCN) and IDE, proposes to boost production of its 100-million cubic meter facility at Hadera by 27 million cubic meters a year. This plant is still under construction.
The three consortia were asked by the government to propose how much extra water they could produce if the purchase price was NIS 2.60 per cubic meter, the price set in their current contracts with the government. The government is committed to buying the plants' output through 2027. The cost of expanding the three plants is estimated at NIS 500 million.
The consortia offered to produce the additional water in two stages: the first immediately, and the rest as soon as possible, probably no later than the end of 2009.
The Ashkelon and Palmachim desalination plants already produce 130 million cubic meters of water a year. The inter-ministerial desalination committee estimates that production will rise to 292 million by the end of 2009 if the three production plants are allowed to boost their output as they've offered.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 4, 2009
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