The National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) has issued a call for tenders to carry out direct seawater supply works, aiming to double the capacity of the new seawater desalination plant in the city of Laayoune and enhance the supply of drinking water to the city. The value of this contract is estimated at around 450 million Moroccan Dirhams.
This project falls within the framework of enhancing drinking water production in Laayoune and surrounding areas such as Marssa, Fum El Oued, and Tarouma. ONEE has constructed a new seawater desalination plant with a capacity of 300 liters per second (26,000 cubic meters per day), operational since October 2022. It is located next to the old desalination unit at the entrance of Marssa Center (Laayoune Port).
In the first phase, the mentioned plant is supplied from existing coastal boreholes, while in the second phase, it will be supplied directly from the seawater, ultimately doubling its production of drinking water and also supplying the old seawater desalination unit. This information is based on the documents accompanying the tenders submitted by the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water.
It is worth noting that the comprehensive project in Laayoune includes, in addition to the seawater desalination plant, strengthening the production of raw water from coastal boreholes, building three tanks with a capacity of 5,500 cubic meters each, establishing pumping stations, and installing a remote control system. The project adopts an energy recovery system to reduce the cost of producing one cubic meter of desalinated water.