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Hyundai E&C wins $3.16 billion contract to build desalination facility in Iraq

Published: 15 Sep. 2025, 21:20

The Hyundai Engineering & Construction headquarters in Jongno District, central Seoul [YONHAP]

Hyundai Engineering & Construction has secured a contract worth $3.16 billion to build a large-scale seawater desalination facility in Iraq, the company announced on Monday. The win comes amid a wave of overseas orders for Korean builders, and hopes are high for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to meet this year’s overseas construction order target of $50 billion (69.5 trillion won), even ahead of schedule.

The contract was signed on Sunday at the Iraqi prime minister’s office in Baghdad. Hyundai E&C will build a seawater supply facility, known as the Water Injection Project (WIP), near the Khor Al Zubair port, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of Baghdad. The plant will process seawater into 5 million barrels of freshwater per day, which will then be used for oil production in Basra, home to Iraq’s largest oil fields.

Iraq, which relies on oil exports for more than 90 percent of its national revenue, aims to increase daily output from the current 4.2 million barrels to 8 million barrels by 2030 through projects like the WIP. In the first half of this year alone, the country developed 113 oil wells. Hyundai E&C said it was able to participate in the project thanks to its experience in Iraq, where it has been involved in about 40 major infrastructure projects since its first contract in 1978 to build sewage facilities in Basra.

The construction period is expected to last 49 months. The WIP project is cofinanced by France’s TotalEnergies, Iraq’s state-run Basra Oil Company and QatarEnergy, Qatar’s national oil company.

Overseas power plant contracts surge

Korean builders are recording their strongest overseas order books in a decade this year. According to the International Contractors Association of Korea, overseas construction orders from January to August reached $37.24 billion, more than double the $17.96 billion secured during the same period last year.

In the first half alone, Korean companies won $31 billion worth of overseas projects, surpassing the 2015 record of $25.5 billion set just before the market entered a prolonged downturn.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction installs a petrochemical facility the height of a 50-story apartment building at the Ulsan Shaheen Project site. [HYUNDAI E&C]

Four of the cooling towers of the Dukovany nuclear power plant rise high above the natural surroundings of Dukovany, Czech Republic, on Sept. 27, 2011. [AP/YONHAP]

The turnaround comes as Korean firms, faced with rising domestic construction costs and tougher competition, aggressively pursue new revenue models abroad. A global surge in energy security concerns and electricity demand has further fueled growth. This year’s performance has been led by power generation projects, including a nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic, the modernization of Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear plant and a combined-cycle power project in Saudi Arabia.

Contracts for power generation facilities have jumped sharply in recent years, from $3.21 billion in 2023 to $22.48 billion in just the first half of this year.

“Domestic construction companies are pivoting quickly from struggling chemical and refinery plant businesses toward power generation, where they are building global competitiveness,” said the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

“Since competing through low-cost bids is no longer feasible, the government is preparing support measures to help Korean firms win high-margin projects in overseas markets with greater added value.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG EUN-HYE [[email protected]]