The Kingdom of Morocco and Veolia Join Forces for the Largest Seawater Desalination Project in Africa
30 October 2024 - 4:23AM
Business Wire
Regulatory News:
On the occasion of the president of the French Republic Emmanuel
Macron's state visit to Morocco, Veolia (Paris:VIE) and the Kingdom
of Morocco signed today 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.
As a global leader in water technologies, Veolia will bring the
best of its cutting-edge 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 life
cycle of the facility. The facility could be powered by low-carbon
electricity, mainly from renewable sources.
Against a backdrop of climate change, which is particularly
affecting the Mediterranean region, this partnership comes at a
time when Morocco is facing unprecedented water stress.
The country 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
therefore becoming an essential solution to these urgent
challenges.
Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia, said: "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. 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. 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."
ABOUT VEOLIA
Veolia's ambition is to become the benchmark company for
ecological transformation. With nearly 218,000 employees on five
continents, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical
solutions for managing water, waste and energy that help to
radically change the world. Through its three complementary
activities, Veolia contributes to developing access to resources,
preserving available resources and renewing them. In 2023, the
Veolia group served 113 million people with drinking water and 103
million with wastewater services, produced 42 terawatt-hours of
energy and recovered 63 million metric tons of waste. Veolia
Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) generated consolidated sales of
€45.3 billion in 2023.
www.veolia.com
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GROUP MEDIA RELATIONS Laurent Obadia - Evgeniya
Mazalova Anna Beaubatie - Aurélien Sarrosquy Charline
Bouchereau Tel.+ 33 (0) 1 85 57 86 25 presse.groupe@veolia.com
INVESTORS RELATIONS Selma Bekhechi - Ariane de Lamaze
Tel. +33 (0) 1 85 57 84 76 investor-relations@veolia.com
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