In June 2016, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that Egypt planned five new desalination plants to supply drinking water on the Sinai Peninsula. The largest, at 20,000 m³/day, was earmarked for El Tor on the western coast of South Sinai, with 10,000 m³/day units at Ras Sedr, Abu Zenima, Dahab and Nuwaiba. A US$98.6 million Kuwait Fund loan was to pay for the plants plus eight pumping stations and 42 km of pipeline, with completion targeted for 2019. Minister Sahar Nasr and Abdulwahab Al-Bader signed it.
The report showed Egypt pairing the development of Sinai with several mid-sized coastal plants and relying on Arab development finance to build them.