The H2ID consortium - bringing together the Delek Group's desalination engineering subsidiary and the Housing and Construction firm - has won a tender to build the Hadera desalination plant at an estimated cost of NIS 1.4 billion, the National Infrastructures Ministry said Monday. In their bid, H2ID offered to provide 100 million cubic meters of water per year through reverse osmosis polymer filtration at a winning price of NIS 2.56 per cubic meter. The bid compared favorably to the NIS 2.75 per cubic meter price at Ashkelon reverse osmosis plant opened in August 2005. The new plant - to be built through a 25-year BOT (build-operate-transfer) contract - is expected to begin operating in 2009.