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Jordan, among the most water-scarce nations in the world, has agreed with a group of French-led investors to construct one of the largest desalination plants globally, AFP reports.

The agreement was signed on Sunday, marking a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to address its growing water crisis.

Described by Jordan's official Petra news agency as the nation's largest-ever infrastructure project, the venture is estimated to cost more than $5 billion, according to Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, who addressed Parliament about the initiative.

The project is spearheaded by French infrastructure firm Meridiam, in collaboration with SUEZ, Orascom Construction, and VINCI Construction Grands Projets.

According to Meridiam’s website, the plant will deliver over 300 million cubic meters of potable water annually to Amman and Aqaba, benefiting more than three million residents. The initiative also includes the construction of approximately 445 kilometers of pipelines to transport desalinated water from the Red Sea.

The ambitious project, which the Prime Minister said last month will take around four years to complete, is a key part of Jordan's strategy to enhance water security.

This development follows Jordan’s withdrawal from a previous initiative aimed at connecting the Dead Sea and the Red Sea via pipelines. That earlier plan, signed in 2013 in a memorandum of understanding between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority, included constructing a desalination plant at the Red Sea.

However, by June 2021, then-water minister Mohammad al-Najjar declared the Red Sea-Dead Sea project "now a thing of the past," citing widespread dissatisfaction in Jordan due to the stalled Israeli-Palestinian Arab peace process.

In 2022, Israel and Jordan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to move ahead with a water-for-energy deal after an initial examination of the project found it to be feasible.

The idea is for Jordan to build 600 megawatts of solar power capacity that would be exported to Israel. In return, Israel would provide water-scarce Jordan with 200 million cubic meters (mcm) of desalinated water.

The MoU was signed at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt at an event hosted by the United Arab Emirates, which is a partner in the project.

Last year, it was reported that the Ministry of Energy is considering refusing to extend Israel's water agreement with Jordan due to criticism by Jordanian officials of Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Two months later, it was reported that Jordan had turned to Israel requesting that the water supply agreement be extended another year.