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Jordan has approved a grant of $203 million from the U.S. for the National Water Carrier mega project, also known as the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance (AAWDC) Project, local Arabic language newspaper Addustour reported on Tuesday.
Jordan’s Council of Ministers approved the grant agreement during a cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan, the report said.
It said the project’s financial close is expected within weeks, paving the way for the start of construction works
The government is targeting a completion timeline of four years, the report added.
In February 2026, Jordan had signed a $189 million concessional loan agreement with Kuwait-headquartered regional financial institution Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (The Arab Fund) for the project.
Prior to that, in October 2025, Green Climate Fund (GCF) approved a $295 million package to catalyse the $6 billion AAWDC. According to GCF’s website, the project will desalinate 300 million cubic metres of water annually, covering about 40 percent of municipal needs by 2030 and 45 per cent by 2040. This will be achieved through the construction of marine infrastructure, a desalination plant in Aqaba (Red Sea), a 438-kilometre transmission pipeline, and the integration of 281 megawatt-peak (MWp) of renewable energy.
The Project is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Ministry of Water and Infrastructure (MWI) of Jordan and National Carrier Project Company or NCPC, a special purpose vehicle owned 90 percent by Meridiam and 10 percent by Suez.
While the Addustour report didn’t elaborate on the source of the grant, the US and Jordan had signed a seven-year, $10.15 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MOU in September 2022 to support government initiatives in public finance, water, energy, education, health, public works, housing, local development, tourism, antiquities, and youth programmes.
(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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