Morocco Launches Three Seawater Desalination Plants to Combat Water Shortage

The announcement was made in parliament by the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, specifying that these stations will be built in Casablanca, El Jadida and Safi. Currently having 9 operational or under construction seawater desalination stations, with a capacity of 147 million cubic meters per year, Morocco will start the construction of new stations to ensure at least 50% of drinking water needs through desalination, he said.

Planned in two phases, the Casablanca station will have a production capacity of 548,000 m³ per day, or 200 million m³ per year, according to the minister. "The first will be completed in June 2026, while the second is scheduled for 2030 and will bring the treatment of salt water to 300 million m³ per year," the minister specified. This mega project will provide desalinated water for the irrigation of 5,000 hectares covering the Greater Casablanca, Berrechid-Settat and El Jadida-Azemmour areas.

According to the minister, the construction work of the desalination stations in Safi with a production capacity of 86,400 m³/day and in El Jadida with a capacity of 25 million m³/year, or 75,800 m³/day, will also be launched this year. In addition, there is the desalination station in the Oriental region. This project, which is still in the study phase, plans a treatment capacity of 100 million m³ that can be extended to 200 million m³ and an envelope of more than 1.3 billion dirhams.