The national water company Mekorot announced that in the second quarter of 2021 it will launch an international tender to join engineering companies from Israel and around the world in the pool of planners who will work with it in the development of new infrastructure in the water sector. The tender will include contracts with engineering design companies for the purpose of general planning, statutory planning and detailed design of systems and facilities for the production, treatment, transmission and distribution of water throughout Israel.
In this way, Mekorot will for the first time enable the integration of engineering companies from around the world in the core areas of its activity in the water sector. To date, the National Water Company has operated a pool of planners, based solely on Israeli engineering companies. The National Water Company explains that “the entry of new players in the field of water engineering, new methods and new technologies, will lead to more efficient development of the water economy in the face of the challenges facing sources in the coming years.”
These challenges stem from the prolonged drought that has befallen Israel for five consecutive years, between the years 2013-2018. Following the effects of the drought on the water balance, the government decided in February 2019 on a comprehensive plan for the development of the water economy. According to the goals of the plan, the national water arm, Mekorot, is required to increase the scope of development of new water infrastructure throughout the country to an average of NIS 2 billion per year, compared with less than NIS 1 billion in previous years.
This decision also stipulates that external companies from Israel and around the world will be able to participate in Mekorot projects, in order to increase competition in the execution of infrastructure works in the water sector and increase market efficiency. At the same time, the subsidiary Shaham Mekorot Execution, which carried out most of the engineering work for Mekorot, as well as construction and other works, until the government decided, received approval to compete in the free market in the field of infrastructure.
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As part of the implementation of the competition in the water economy, the international tender that Mekorot is currently leading in the field of water engineering completes two previous international tenders, with which the National Water Company has already issued for the first time in recent months. This is with the opening of the water sector to competition in the execution of more than 400 new drillings throughout Israel and the construction of more than 60 new pumping stations, in the next ten years. As a result, the engineering companies that meet the terms of the tender, from Israel and around the world, will be able to participate in the planning of these development plans.
Eli Cohen, CEO of Mekorot: “Mekorot’s competitive process in the field of water engineering, including the possibility of integrating international factors, supports the challenging development goals of the water sector in the coming years. The current procedure is part of a complete set of innovative technological and engineering concepts, which Mekorot has been leading in recent years in order to ensure an advanced, stable and efficient water economy, for the well-being of Israeli citizens. “