Asian Development Bank to provide $140 mln to construct desalination plant in Azerbaijan

BAKU. Oct 26 (Interfax) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a $140 million loan for a project to construct a seawater desalination plant in Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, the ADB posted on its website.

The ADB's board of directors approved the loan on October 23.

The loan will be disbursed in two tranches of $70 million each.

The project aims to meet the growing demand for drinking water in Baku and on the Absheron peninsula, as well as to diversify freshwater sources.

The borrower is the Caspian Sea Azerbaijan Project Company, an entity established specifically to implement the project.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $431.5 million.

As reported, following a tender process, a consortium of Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power and Turkey's IC Ictas Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. will construct the facility. The plant should be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2028.

In September 2025, Azerbaijan and ACWA signed a package of documents to implement the project. At the time, the project was valued at $407 million. The facility will have capacity of 300,000 cubic meters of water per day.

ACWA will operate the facility for 25 years.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will also provide a $45 million loan to implement the project.

Azerbaijan has been a member of the Asian Development Bank since 1999, during which the ADB has approved projects in the country totaling nearly $6 billion. In November 2025, the bank announced its readiness to provide Azerbaijan with up to $2.5 billion by 2029 for projects in the areas of renewable energy, transport, water supply, and private sector support.