Photo: ADB

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.