The Northern Water Supply Project is a proposed desalination project that will supply water to the far north and Upper Spencer Gulf areas of South Australia. The proposed scope of the works includes:
- a 260 ML/day desalination plant constructed in two stages over a period of five to 10 years
- a 400-kilometre main trunk pipeline to Olympic Dam via Lincoln Gap, including
- spur connections to Whyalla North water storage (13 kilometres), and Carrapateena mine (58 kilometres)
- six pump stations
- six water storage areas
- water intake pipes extending four kilometres into the Spencer Gulf
- outlet pipes into the Spencer Gulf
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- other ancillary infrastructure.
The desalination plant is expected to be constructed in two stages, each with a capacity of around 130 ML per day. The plant use reverse osmosis to desalinate the water.
Key Dates
| Nov 2023 | ROIs Open |
| Dec 2023 | ROIs Close |
Funding contributions
| Federal Government | |
| SA Government | |
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The planning and procurement of the project is expected to cost $230 million and is being jointly funded by the Federal and South Australian Governments and industry partners. The Federal Government has allocated $65 million, while the SA Government and a number of industry partners including BHP, Origin Energy, Amp Energy and Fortescue Energy have provided $165 million in funding. |
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Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | Department of Infrastructure and Transport |
| Shortlist: | WaterConnector consortia comprising ACCIONA and ACCIONA Agua; Watermark consortia comprising CPB Contractors, Fisia Italimpianti (part of the Webuild Group), Clough, and Sacyr Water. |
| Procurement note: | Under the Design, Build, Operate, and Maintain contract, the successful party is expected to be awarded two separate contracts: a Design and Construct contract and an Operation and Maintenance Contract with a 20-year term and two five-year extension options. The contracts are being tendered concurrently and are to be submitted as a joint proposal. The successful bidding consortium will be required to consider both construction costs, and operations and maintenance costs. Delivery of the project was initially being managed by Infrastructure South Australia, before being transferred to the newly created Office of Northern Water (ONW) within the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) in July 2024. In November 2024, the ONW was transferred to the Department of Energy and Mining (DEM), with procurement and pre-delivery responsibility remaining with DIT. In May this year, the ONW was formally dissolved and its responsibilities transferred to the DEM. DIT retains procurement and pre-delivery responsibility for the project. |
| Related contracts: |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Mar 2022 | Environmental investigations began for site selection. |
| Nov 2023 | Infrastructure SA commenced a Registration of Interest process to design, build, operate and maintain the project, closing 11 December 2023. |
| Mar 2024 | The SA Government appointed GHD as Technical Advisor for the Project. |
| Jun 2024 | The 2024-25 SA Budget allocated $78 million for FY2024-25 for the project's feasibility assessment, being jointly funded by the Federal and SA Governments and industry. It also announced an estimated completion date of June 2026. |
| Jan 2025 | The SA Government commenced an Expressions of Interest process for a Transaction Advisory Services Provider for the Northern Water Project, closing on 30 January. The proponent would be required to facilitate and manage the procurement of the project, to be delivered as an Incentivised Target Cost contract model. |
| Jun 2025 | The 2025-26 South Australian Budget includes $58 million in FY2025-26 for pre-delivery, procurement and commercial development for the project. The planning works have a combined total cost of $220 million and are expected to be complete in Q4 2026. The Budget confirms that the project’s commercial management has been moved from Infrastructure South Australia to the Department of Energy and Mining. |
| Nov 2025 | A shortlist to deliver the project was announced and Mullaquana Station was selected as the preferred site for the project, following a selection process that also considered Cape Hardy, 190 kilometres further south on the Eyre Peninsula. |
