TEL-AVIV, Israel, Feb. 14, 2005 -- The Israel Desalination Society has released the latest update on the program for its 7th Annual Conference to be held March 2-3 at the Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center in Tel-Aviv, Israel.
The theme for the event is "Israel's Large Seawater Desalination Tenders - 5 Years Experience." It's sponsored by the Grand Water Research Institute of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
The Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure and it's hoped a high ranking Palestinian official will open the conference, said program chairman Daniel Hoffman, of Adan Technical and Economic Services Ltd.
A visit to the world's largest desalination project -- the VID Ltd. Ashkelon Desalination Plant -- is included in the program. Five years have passed since the Israeli government published its first large seawater desalination plant tender, for the Ashkelon 50 million m3/year BOT project. Since then, three other major tenders have been issued.
-- The up-to-65 million m3/year government-sponsored multiple BOO projects.
-- The Ashdod 45 million m/year Mekarot-sponsored turnkey project.
-- The 100-million m/year government-sponsored and partially financed BOT project at Hadera.
The objectives of this conference are to review the main requirements of the tenders and projects, their logic and consequences, the current status of all projects and their projected timetables. The conference will address the future needs of additional large scale desalination plants, focusing on forecasted needs versus programmed tenders. The program, geared mainly to the Israeli experience, also includes presentations of some overseas BOOT projects. A concluding panel session will discuss the lessons gained, the problems and concerns raised in the conference and possible solutions for improving future tenders.
For more information, visit: http://gwri-ic.technion.ac.il
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