BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 26. The Asian
Development Bank (ADB) is considering to allocate $140 million for
the Caspian Sea Water Desalination Project in Azerbaijan, the Bank
said.


The project involves the design, construction, financing, and
operation and maintenance of a seawater reverse osmosis
desalination plant with a contracted production capacity of 300,000
cubic meter per day and operational flexibility of up to 330,000
cubic meter per day during peak demand, together with associated
infrastructure. The project will be implemented under a 25-year
publicprivate partnership (PPP) agreement and will supply treated
water exclusively to state-owned United Water Supply Services of
Major Cities. The project is Azerbaijan's first large-scale
seawater desalination and first PPP project.


“The project is aligned with one of the core objectives of ADB's
country partnership strategy (CPS) for Azerbaijan, 2025-2029, which
calls for fostering low carbon connectivity and inclusive
development. Specifically, the project contributes to the CPS
outcome on building clean and resilient infrastructure. The private
sector development plan in the CPS identifies supporting PPP
initiatives as an important ADB response to the country's private
sector development needs, including the planned public and private
sector interventions to support the government's PPP program.
Because the project is being processed as a One ADB transaction, it
is aligned with the CPS approach,” said the Bank.







The project is classified as Substantial for overall E&S
risk. The principal risks and impacts relate to climate change
impacts; marine construction and dredging; seawater abstraction and
brine discharge; marine biodiversity, including biodiversity values
associated with Critical Habitat; contaminated soil and
groundwater; construction labor and occupational health and safety;
community health and safety; stakeholder engagement; and E&S
risks associated with associated facilities. The Substantial
classification reflects the scale and complexity of the marine
construction and operational activities, the sensitivity of the
marine receiving environment and presence of Critical Habitat,
legacy contamination associated with the brownfield site, and
remaining E&S assessment and management requirements associated
with the product water transmission pipeline and detailed design.
These risks and impacts are considered capable of being managed
through the mitigation, management, monitoring and
adaptive-management measures established through the ESIA, ESMS,
supporting management plans and ESAP.