Seawater Desalination Projects in Essaouira and Guelmim to Improve Drinking and Irrigation Water Supply in Morocco

2023-06-04 13:03:58

L’Drinking and irrigation water supply will soon be improved in the cities of Essaouira and Guelmim. Indeed, construction projects for two seawater desalination stations are planned in these two cities. The announcement was made recently by the National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE), during the official launch of specific and detailed studies relating to these hydraulic projects.

On this occasion, ONEE declared that “these studies will make it possible to determine the drinking and irrigation water needs, as well as the resources already mobilized in the cities of Essaouira and Guelmim. The sites to host the future factories will also be identified and their areas determined.

Cost of studies: 23 million dirhams

Within the framework of these studies, the consultation files of the companies will also be established, as well as the 3D modeling of the discharges. To this will be added technical studies relating to “desalinated water supply”, then additional studies, in particular topographic, bathymetric, geophysical, geotechnical and analysis of the quality of sea water. ONEE considers that these various studies will cost 23 million dirhams.

Then will be added the construction costs of seawater desalination plants. Data that the Office has not detailed, since we are still far from the launch of calls for tenders for the award of these contracts. . In the meantime, it should be noted that the Essaouira station will have a capacity of nearly 53 million m3 per year, while that of Guelmim will be able to provide some 35 million m3 of water per year to supply the populations. and irrigation as well as coping with water stress.

These two projects are planned at a time when several similar projects are underway in Morocco. This year, three new seawater desalination stations will be launched in the port cities of El Jadida, Safi and in the Oriental region. These plants will notably be capable of producing respectively 86,400 m3, 75,800 m3 of drinking water per day and 100 million m3 of drinking water per year as soon as they come into service.

The facility to be set up in the Oriental region will have an expandable capacity of 200 million m3 per year, ie double its commissioning at start-up. These new seawater desalination units will thus reinforce the nine desalination plants currently operational in the Kingdom, which offer a combined capacity of 147 million m3 of water per year.

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