Veolia and the Kingdom of Morocco signed a MOA for the establishment of a strategic partnership to develop on an exclusive basis a seawater desalination project that will be the largest in Africa and the second largest in the world. It will supply drinking water to regions of the Kingdom particularly affected by drought.
Located near Rabat on the Atlantic coast, the project will be structured as a public-private partnership, involving the construction, financing and operation for 35 years, by Veolia, of a seawater desalination plant. With a capacity of 822,000 m3 of drinking water per day, or 300 million m3 per year, 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.
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.
The facility could be powered by low-carbon electricity, mainly from renewable sources.