Morocco's Office National de L’Electricite et de L’Eue Potable (Onee) is advancing plans for the development of a new independent water project in Nador.

It recently appointed US/India-based Synergy Consulting as the financial adviser for the scheme.

According to MEED Projects data, the expression of interest (EoI) request for the project was issued last year.

To be located in Morocco's Oriental region, the facility is expected to cater to the cities of Nador, Oujda, Berkane, Taourirt and Saidia.

The planned seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant is the second to be procured by Onee. 

Casablanca plant

In September, a developer team led by Spain's Acciona submitted a lower bid of MD4.48 ($c43.89) a cubic metre ($c/cm) for the contract to develop the first phase of a major desalination plant in Grand Casablanca.

The other team that submitted a proposal, led by France's Suez, offered a levelised water cost of MD6.5/cm.

The two consortiums submitted revised proposals for the contract, as MEED reported on 1 September.

Six teams submitted statements of qualifications for the contract to develop the Grand Casablanca IWP in June last year.

The proposed Grand Casablanca SWRO project has a design capacity of 548,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

The build-operate-transfer contract is for 30 years, including a three-year construction period and 27 years of operation and management.

A consortium of Cid, Novec, LPEE and Mapping Engineering won the contract to study the marine environment and the seawater treatment process for the project last year.

Onee appointed Synergy Consulting as the financial adviser for the project.

Onee expects to complete the commissioning of the Grand Casablanca SWRO plant by 2026.

The project’s second phase, with a capacity of 274,000 cm/d, has a 2030 target completion date. 

Morocco plans to build the world’s largest seawater desalination plant in Casablanca, with a budget estimated at MD9.5bn ($1.05bn), according to a local report in March last year citing Morocco’s Equipment, Transport & Water Minister Abdelkader Amara.

The project aligns with Morocco’s National Water Plan 2020-50 and addresses the country’s scarce water supply.