Abengoa, in consortium with ATNER (Atlas Energie), has been awarded the contract for the extension of the Tan-Tan desalination plant in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region (Morocco) by the Office National de l’Électricité et de l’Eau potable (ONEE) of the Kingdom of Morocco.
The scope of the project includes the expansion of the Sehb Lharcha demineralization station, from a flow rate of 50 l/s to a final flow rate of 150 l/s. These works are part of an integral project to strengthen the water supply of the city of Tan-Tan.
Abengoa has been present in Morocco for more than 15 years developing world reference projects in the water sector, where the Agadir plant, with a capacity of 275,000 m3/day, is the largest desalination plant designed and conceived for combined use of drinking water and irrigation. It has an associated irrigation network for a surface area of 13,600 ha and can be extended to 400,000 m3/day.
In Morocco, Abengoa has shown its experience in the energy sector as well, executing pioneering projects such as the first solar-gas hybrid power plant in the world, located in Ain Beni Mathar (472 MW), inaugurated in 2010.
Abengoa is a recognized company in the international water market. In the desalination sector alone, it has an installed capacity of 2.8 million m3/day of desalinated water, which will be increased to 4.4 million when the portfolio under execution is completed. The prestigious specialized magazine Engineering News-Record (ENR) awarded Abengoa the first international position in desalination projects in its December 2021 ranking.
Among its recent projects, in addition to the Agadir project, the Taweelah power and water generation complex in the United Arab Emirates, with a production capacity of 909,000 m3/day, is currently in the start-up phase. Also noteworthy are the two largest reverse osmosis desalination plants in Saudi Arabia, each with a capacity of 600,000 m3/d, Jubail 3A, under construction, and Rabigh, which will be commissioned in 2021. As well as the 250,000 m3/d Shuaibah desalination plant, completed in 2019, and the 113,650 m3/d Salalah desalination plant in Oman, completed in 2020, which received the top award in the project of the year category at the MEED 2021 Awards of the International Desalination Association (IDA) last December.