Morocco plans its second largest desalination plant in Nador

Morocco will invite bids by the end of the year for a 250 million cubic meters desalination plant in the north-eastern city of Nador, water and equipment minister Nizar Baraka said.

The plant would be the second largest in the country after Casablanca’s which is planned to start supplying fresh water in 2027, Baraka told Reuters.

Baraka said Casablanca and Nador plants will be powered by renewable energies as the country hopes to produce 1.3 billion cubic meters of water from desalination.

As part of an emergency drought-response program, Morocco built a waterway from the water abundant Sebou basin to a dam near Rabat that also supplies Casablanca.

Morocco plans to channel that water to the dam of Al Massira which supplies irrigation water to the key farming areas of Doukala and Tadla.

The project would also help offset delays in desalination projects, notably in Casablanca.

The waterway was meant to prevent water from being wasted at sea, as the country has lost more than 6.5 billion cubic meters of fresh water thrown into the sea in the past 5 years.

Morocco has announced a 2020-2027 plan to which $14 bln have been allocated in total to build desalination plants and dams while improving supply in rural areas.