Jordan Ministry of Water and Irrigation signed a preliminary agreement with the Meridiam-Suez consortium to begin the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project for desalinating and transporting water from Aqaba south of the kingdom to the capital Amman.

The project plans to desalinate 300 million cubic meters of seawater annually from the Gulf of Aqaba. It includes a seawater intake system, an advanced desalination plant, a 450-kilometer pipeline delivering freshwater to Amman, and renewable energy components to power the system. The Meridiam-Suez consortium will fund, design, construct, and operate the system for a concession period covering construction and 26 years of operation. Afterward, the project will transfer to Jordan’s Ministry of Water and Irrigation as a national asset. Once operational, it will provide 300 million cubic meters of drinking water annually, meeting the needs of approximately four million people. 

Jordan relies on water imports from Israel under agreements from the 1994 peace treaty. Israel supplies 50 million cubic meters of water annually from the Sea of Galilee via the King Abdullah Canal. In 2021, an additional agreement under the Wadi Araba Peace Agreement allowed Jordan to purchase another 50 million cubic meters of water.