Spanish multinational corporation Abengoa has secured a contract to develop a desalination and irrigation project in Agadir, Morocco.
The €309m project includes the construction of a desalination plant with the potential to produce 275000 m3 of desalinated water per day. The deal also offers an extended capacity of 450,000 m3/day.
The Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable (ONEE), the Ministry of agriculture, sea fisheries and rural development, and the Ministry of waters and forests of Morocco are the clients for the project, formed by the mutualisation of two projects.
The first project involves a 50 % increase in production capacity under the contract that Abengoa has been developing for ONEE. The second project is to expand the production of irrigation water by 125,000 m3/d.
The project will satisfy the demand of water for domestic use and irrigation purposes in Agadir.
Abengoa said: “At the same time, it will contribute to the development of the main economic drivers, the agricultural and tourism sectors, and the conservation of the aquifers in the area, therefore preventing their overexploitation.”
As per the terms outlined in original contract, Abengoa will be responsible for engineering, construction and operation and maintenance of the project for 27 years.
The project will be financed by investment partners Abengoa and Moroccan company InfraMaroc.
Located in Morocco since 1977, Abengoa has offices in Rabat and Casablanca, and has accomplished huge projects across the country like Integrated Solar Combined Cycle plant (ISCC) in Ain Beni Mathar.
With a global installed capacity of 1.5 million m3/d, Abengoa has recently secured a contract to build a 250,000 m3/d desalination plant for ACWA Power in Shuaibah, Saudi Arabia.