Morocco is preparing to launch a call for tenders for a new seawater desalination plant in Nador, with a capacity of 250 million cubic meters per year, announced Nizar Baraka, Minister of Water and Equipment.
This plant, which will be operational after the one planned in Casablanca with a capacity of 300 million cubic meters, relies on renewable energy to guarantee drinking water from the coasts and relieve pressure on dams.
The persistent drought for five years has undermined the country’s reserves, imposing restrictions in certain urban and agricultural areas. In this context, Morocco aims to build eight other eco-responsible desalination plants, complementing the twelve current plants running on fossil energy. The objective? Provide 1.3 billion cubic meters of freshwater by 2035.
Furthermore, a water “highway” was built to transfer resources from the northwest basin to the regions of Rabat and Casablanca, home to some 12 million inhabitants. This water is also intended for the Al Massira dam, currently at only 2.5% of its capacity, and which mainly irrigates the agricultural regions of Doukkala and Tadla.
For the minister, these projects are of a strategic nature. They specifically target the Moroccan regions most affected by climate change.
