The Birkat Miriam plant will produce 100 million cubic meters of desalinated water annually, improving the reliability of Israel’s water supply to Haifa, the Western Galilee and Upper Galilee regions.
Birkat Miriam will join Israel’s other large scale desalination plants in operation – Ashkelon, Ashdod, Palmachim, Hadera and Sorek 1 – while IDE also constructs Sorek 2. These desalination plants are part of an Israeli government effort to increase the amount of desalinated water in the country’s overall water resources. The water contribution from the Western Galilee plant will bring total production of desalination plants in Israel to almost 900 million cubic meters per year. This water represents 85–90% of household and industrial water consumption.
This new project is the second time in two years that IDE Technologies secured a bid to build a desalination plant in Israel. In 2020, IDE Technologies was awarded the contract to construct Sorek 2, one of the largest seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants in the world.
“As an Israel-based leader in water desalination technology, we are immensely proud to secure and support another large scale desalination plant in our home country and increase the valuable water supply to the residents and businesses of the northern parts of Israel,” said Alon Tavor, CEO of IDE Technologies Group. “Desalination is critical to preserving water as a natural resource and IDE is committed to expanding our technology reach – and it starts at home.”
IDE Technologies will construct the plant as part of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the State of Israel, represented by the Ministries of Finance and Energy and the Israel Water Authority, and will be responsible for planning and financing the approximately Shekels1.5 billion project.
With a goal of completion in 2025, IDE Technologies will also operate the plant for 25 years beyond the project term.
