The wind of the Nile River cannot quench the thirst of the desert, and Egypt is turning seawater into new oil. A $3 billion project package has been released, with Middle Eastern capital taking the lead in securing positions from desalination plants to power grids. This wave of infrastructure construction is opening up a highly certain overseas channel for Chinese water and power enterprises.

Project centralized release

On September 19, 2026, the Egyptian Ministry of Finance launched a centralized bidding for 16 water treatment and power PPP projects, with a total investment of 3.08 billion US dollars. The business covers seawater desalination, industrial wastewater treatment, sludge disposal, and power grid construction. Multiple projects have entered the final stage of bidding, bringing opportunities for domestic water and power equipment enterprises to go global.

This project focuses on seawater desalination as the core, with the largest investment proportion. The two key projects have landed in Suez and Port Said. The overall project details are as follows: the total investment of the seawater desalination project is 2.68 billion US dollars, including four desalination plants in Suez, Port Said, Suez Canal Economic Zone, and Alamein. Some projects have entered the final bidding stage; The total investment for the wastewater and sludge disposal project is 277 million US dollars, covering industrial wastewater, sludge treatment, and concentrated water recovery projects in multiple cities; The total investment of the power grid project is 50 million US dollars, covering multiple new city power stations and power grid renovation projects. There is a slight deviation in the cumulative amount of each sub project, which is due to the official estimation criteria.

Accelerate the promotion of key projects

At present, the bidding work for multiple water projects in Egypt is being carried out in an orderly manner. The Alaman and Suez Canal Economic Zone seawater desalination plants have completed technical and commercial audits and entered the final bidding stage, and are about to finalize their partners. The large-scale seawater desalination plants in Suez and Port Said are still in the bidding process, among which the Suez project is a heavyweight single water project in Egypt in recent years, with a planned daily production capacity of 1 million cubic meters, to be constructed in two phases. Based on Egypt's previous official plan, the country will continue to promote bidding for water treatment projects within the year, and the project layout will continue to expand, extending from a single water treatment field to the power and grid infrastructure sectors, with a steady pace of overall implementation.

Highlighting opportunities for going abroad

The demand for seawater desalination in Egypt is strong, with over a hundred desalination plants currently in operation and multiple projects under construction with sufficient planned reserves. The country has set clear long-term goals and plans to significantly increase the daily production capacity of seawater desalination by 2050, replacing the main source of coastal water supply with desalinated water. The market development space is vast. Domestic enterprises have already laid out in advance, and CITIC Construction has landed cooperation in the Egyptian water industry chain in 2026, laying out core material production projects for seawater desalination. Keywords: Egypt PPP, infrastructure, seawater desalination, power grid engineering

This bidding release has multiple advantages. Firstly, the project bidding cycle is clear, with the next six months to one year being a critical period for contract signing and equipment procurement. Domestic equipment companies can coordinate with the general contractor and investors in advance; Secondly, Middle Eastern capital dominates the operation of large-scale water projects in the local area, and domestic enterprises can enter the equipment supply and engineering subcontracting supply chain; Thirdly, industrial wastewater and small and medium-sized power grid projects have lower thresholds and wider layouts, which are suitable for small and medium-sized equipment enterprises to go global. In addition, Egypt's power PPP projects will continue to expand.

The $3.08 billion project package is an important initiative for Egypt to leverage private capital for infrastructure development. The projects of seawater desalination, water treatment, and power grid are advancing synchronously, and Middle Eastern capital has taken the lead in entering the market. Domestic enterprises can seize the opportunities of supply chain support and accurately connect with overseas markets.Editor/Gong Ziwei