Acciona to Build $870 Million Desalination Plant in Morocco, Africa’s Largest

Acciona in consortium with the Moroccan companies Afriquia Gaz and Green of Africa, both subsidiaries of the Akwa group belonging to the President of the Moroccan government, Aziz Akhannouch, has won the tender for the construction of this mega desalination plant, says an official Moroccan source to EFE.

The construction of this desalination plant, presented as the largest in Africa with a capacity of 548,000 cubic meters per day, will require an investment of around 800 million euros and will meet the drinking water needs of the seven million inhabitants of the Casablanca region and guarantee the irrigation of more than 5,000 hectares.

The Moroccan Ministry of Equipment and Water considers desalination as a sustainable alternative to the kingdom’s water resource deficit, hit by a severe drought for two years. Thus, in addition to the Casablanca plant, which should be fully operational by 2030, the ministry plans to launch the construction of the desalination plants of El Jadida and Safi.

Morocco aims to go from nine desalination plants currently, with 147 million cubic meters per year, to twenty by 2030 for a capacity of more than one billion cubic meters per year.