With French president Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Morocco on 29 Oct 2024, Veolia and the Kingdom of Morocco signed a Memorandum of Association (MoA) to develop an exclusive seawater desalination project that will reportedly be the largest in Africa and the second largest in the world.
It will supply drinking water to regions of Morocco affected by drought. Located near Rabat on the Atlantic coast, the seawater desalination plant project will be structured as a public-private partnership, involving the construction, financing and operation for 35 years by Veolia.
With a capacity of 822,000m3 of drinking water per day — or 300 million m3/yr — it will ensure the supply of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra and Fès-Meknès regions to meet the water needs of nearly 9.3 million inhabitants.
“With a long history of partnership, we are thrilled and honoured to write this new page with the Kingdom of Morocco and Moroccan citizens to meet the challenges related to the environment and water,” Veolia CEO Estelle Brachlianoff said.
This initiative is part of the Moroccan national energy strategy, launched by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, which aims to strengthen water supply security and to face the challenges of climate change.
Veolia will bring its expertise in desalination for a reference plant in terms of efficiency, innovation and environmental protection. Its operational expertise will also ensure high plant performance by balancing investment and operating costs, thus ensuring the most competitive water price over the entire lifecycle of the facility. The facility could be powered by low-carbon electricity, mainly from renewable sources.
Against a backdrop of climate change, which is affecting the Mediterranean region, this partnership comes at a time when Morocco is experiencing its worst drought for 40 years, with rainfall continuing to decline and reservoirs at historically low levels, threatening agriculture, drinking water supplies and, more broadly, the country’s economy. Seawater desalination is becoming an essential solution to these urgent challenges.
“We are fully aware of the urgency of the situation and proud to contribute to this major project, which will strengthen the country’s water resilience,” CEO Brachlianoff added. “We will put the best of our international expertise and our long-standing presence in the region at the service of the kingdom for a reference project in terms of performance and sustainability.”
