At least six consortia have formed to respond to a call for tenders issued by Morocco's National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE), according to sources. This procedure aims to build a seawater desalination plant in the Casablanca-Settat region.

Morocco’s National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) will announce the successful bidders for the future Casablanca-Settat desalination plant by May 2023 at the latest. In the meantime, the battle is tight between six consortia led by several major international groups that have submitted bids to the Moroccan public body. This is the case of the Suez group, the world specialist in water and environmental management, which for the occasion has joined forces with the Japanese company Itochu, and Navera, the subsidiary of the Moroccan group Al Mada.

The information is not yet confirmed, but the French group Veolia is said to have made a joint bid with Taqa Maroc, the subsidiary of the Taqa Group, an independent power producer (IPP) based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Several Spanish giants are also in the running to build the Casablanca desalination plant.

A market of 800 million euros

This is the case of Abengoa, which has just completed the construction of the desalination plant in Agadir. Through its subsidiary Abengoa Agua, the group based in Seville, has joined forces with the French energy company Engie, which has just won the contract for the Dakhla desalination plant in Western Sahara alongside Navera.