Egypt Approves PPP Tenders for Four Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plants Totaling 90,000 m³/d

According to an Egyptian cabinet statement, Egypt's Higher Committee for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, approved a package of PPP tenders covering seawater desalination, industrial wastewater treatment and electricity infrastructure.

The committee approved tendering four industrial wastewater treatment plants and endorsed the procedures for offering them to investors:

• Amreya Industrial Zone, Alexandria — average capacity 20,000 m³/d;
• Abu Rawash Industrial Zone, Giza — first phase, average capacity 20,000 m³/d;
• Wadi El-Natrun Industrial Zone, Beheira — average capacity 15,000 m³/d;
• Al-Raswa Industrial Zone, southern Port Said — average capacity 35,000 m³/d.

Together the four plants represent 90,000 m³/d of average treatment capacity. The programme is designed to ensure industrial wastewater is treated and safely disposed of in line with applicable quality and environmental requirements, reducing the environmental impact of industrial activity while drawing on private-sector technical expertise and finance to build and operate the facilities.

The same session cleared two large desalination plants: a central seawater desalination plant at Port Said with 900,000 m³/d, serving Port Said governorate and parts of neighbouring Ismailia; and a Suez plant of 1,000,000 m³/d built in two phases, serving Suez, the Suez Canal Economic Zone and surrounding areas, with phase two also covering future expansion of the New Administrative Capital. Both fall under Egypt's 2020–2050 seawater desalination strategy.

The committee also approved adding three projects to the PPP pipeline for preparation and tendering: phase one of the Al-Raswa industrial wastewater plant, the two-phase Suez desalination plant, and the right to operate the Capital Gardens transformer substation with its connecting lines and electricity networks. Capital Gardens, a fourth-generation smart city, is affiliated with the New Urban Communities Authority.

All approvals were issued under Law No. 67 of 2010, as amended, governing private-sector participation in infrastructure, public services and utilities. Egypt's parliament further widened the framework in July 2025 by approving legislation allowing companies to build and operate water and wastewater facilities.