Positioned between Israel to the west and Saudi Arabia to the east, Jordan is one of the world’s most water-scarce countries. To help address that need, the country is building a 200-mile pipeline that will pump water from the Disi aquifer in the southern city of Mudawarra to Jordan’s most populous city, the capital of Amman, located in the north. Funding the $1 billion cost of the mammoth undertaking has just reached a key milestone — with GE Energy Financial Services helping to finance it via its joint venture, GAMA Energy A.S.


The pipes, the pipes, are calling: The ones above will be used to construct the Disi Water Conveyance Project that will pump more than 100 million cubic meters of water a year to Amman, Jordan. GAMA Energy, a joint venture of GE Energy Financial Services and GAMA Holding, is investing in this project.

Jordan’s water resources per capita are among the world’s lowest — with water delivered only once a week to Amman’s residents. Jordan’s annual water consumption is 900 million cubic meters, and it will need 1.6 billion cubic meters per year to meet its requirements by 2015. The Disi Water Conveyance Project, which is the largest privately financed water supply project in Jordan and the surrounding countries, will account for approximately 6 percent of Jordan’s total consumption projected in 2015.

In 2007, the Government of Jordan awarded GAMA a concession to build and operate the pipeline. After a 25-year period, ownership transfers to the Government of Jordan. The first in a series of fundings for the project was made today, with construction expected to begin this month.


Pump it up: GAMA Energy Managing Director M. Arif Ozozan said he’s proud of “the vote of confidence we won from the financial community by closing a $1 billion project amidst the worldwide economic downturn.”

The project’s construction, by an affiliate of GAMA Holding, is expected to take four years and use an estimated 250,000 tons of steel and involve the digging of 55 wells. The project will extract water from the Disi well fields in the 320-kilometer-long Disi sandstone aquifer.

GAMA Energy, based in Ankara, will invest approximately $190 million, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation of Jordan will provide a $300 million grant, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation of the United States, the European Investment Bank and Proparco of France will collectively provide $455 million in debt financing.

* Read the announcement
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* Read GE Reports’ story about GE’s work on Bahrain’s new power plant
* Read GE Reports’ story about GE’s $8B joint venture with Mubadala
* Watch a video about GE’s partnerships in the region
* Watch a video about GE’s infrastructure projects in the region
* Read about Energy Financial Services’ smart grid project