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The Spanish government has announced the allocation of €340 million (approximately 3.5 billion Moroccan dirhams) to support the seawater desalination plant project in Casablanca—set to become the largest of its kind on the African continent. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by February 2027.
The project is being carried out by a consortium comprising the Spanish company Acciona and the Moroccan firms Afriquia Gaz and Green of Africa, both subsidiaries of the Acwa Group. With a total cost of €887 million (over 9.75 billion dirhams), the plant is expected to supply desalinated water to approximately 7.5 million people.
Spain's financial support for the project is structured through three main mechanisms: a €250 million loan from the Spanish Enterprise Internationalization Fund (FIEM) to cover design, construction, and operation; credit coverage of up to 80% for an additional €70 million loan from the Spanish Export Credit Agency (Cesce); and €31 million in funding from the Spanish Foreign Investment Fund (FIEX) allocated to Acciona’s equity share in the company overseeing the project.
The funding was officially announced during a ceremony in Casablanca to sign the financial agreement, attended by Spain’s State Secretary for Trade, Amparo López Senovilla, and Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, alongside other Moroccan and Spanish officials.
In her remarks, the Spanish official described the project as «structural, ambitious, and strategically important», highlighting its integration of water resource management with innovation and technology. She also noted that the plant will be powered by renewable energy, and reaffirmed Spain’s commitment to supporting Morocco in modernizing its infrastructure, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.
For her part, Minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui stressed that the Casablanca desalination plant is «one of the flagship projects» of Morocco’s national water management strategy, which aims to increase annual desalinated water production to 1.7 billion cubic meters by 2030, up from the current 320 million cubic meters.
Located in the coastal commune of Lamharza (El Jadida Province), the project was officially launched last June by Crown Prince Moulay Hassan.
According to Acciona, construction has already reached 20% progress. The first phase is expected to produce 548,000 cubic meters of water per day by February 2027, with a second phase to follow in August 2028, adding another 274,000 cubic meters per day. Once completed, the total daily production capacity will reach 822,000 cubic meters.
