In February 2019, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that Hitachi Capital Asia and Hitachi Aqua-Tech Engineering had been awarded a contract by the Maldivian utility Male Water & Sewerage Company. Worth US$8.8 million, the deal covered a new reverse osmosis plant for seawater plus a distribution network for phase two of the reclaimed island of Hulhumale. Hitachi Capital Asia was arranging the finance, and completion was scheduled for June 2020.
The report showed that new reclaimed land in the Maldives was planned around seawater desalination from the outset, in this case with financing from within the contractor's own group.