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Morocco to begin Nador IWP prequalification

31 January 2024

Morocco’s Office National de L’Electricite et de L’Eue Potable (Onee) is expected to issue the request for qualifications (RFQ) for the country’s second major independent water producer (IWP) scheme in Nador in the first half of 2024.

To be located in Morocco’s Oriental region, the seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant is expected to cater to the cities of Nador, Oujda, Berkane, Taourirt and Saidia.

It is anticipated to have a capacity of 250,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

MEED reported in October that Onee had appointed US/India-based Synergy Consulting as the financial adviser for the Nador IWP project.

According to MEED Projects data, the expression of interest (EoI) request for the project was issued in 2022.

It is the second SWRO plant to be procured as an IWP by Onee, following the award last year of the $875m Grand Casablanca IWP contract to a team comprising Spain’s Acciona and the local firms Afriquia Gaz and Green of Africa.

Casablanca plant

In September last year, the Acciona-led consortium submitted a lower bid of MD4.48 ($c43.89) a cubic metre ($c/cm) for the contract to develop the first phase of the Grand Casablanca IWP project.

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

The proposed Grand Casablanca SWRO project has a design capacity of 548,000 cm/d.

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

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.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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