Marine Utilities

Casablanca first phase includes shared intake, outfall and tunnel systems

Published 13 July 2026 Updated 10 August 2026 Publisher IMWO Region Africa Confidence Confirmed
Casablanca desalination deputy project director Meryem Hadri at the active ACCIONA construction site

ACCIONA People

ONEE's owner-issued prequalification basis requires Casablanca's first phase to deliver marine intake and discharge works sized for the final 822,000 m3/day plant. The February 2027 first-phase target therefore depends on final-capacity common systems, not visible onshore process progress alone.

Published scope and current milestone

ONEE's prequalification dossier 01DAM/EE/2022 makes the intake and discharge works a separate sub-component sized for 822,000 m3/day and delivered in the first phase. It defines final-capacity raw-water intake towers and emissaries, final-capacity civil works for the intake and pumping basin, first-phase screening and desanding equipment, and a discharge charging basin and emissaries with a final-capacity dilution system, plus hydromechanical, electrical and remote-control equipment. ONEE later records the November 2023 PPP, construction commencement on 10 June 2024 and the two-stage delivery structure, and its year-end 2025 profile keeps the plant under construction. ACCIONA's financing release identifies the MAD 6.5 billion PPP, the Al Baidaa Desalination Company ownership split, 300 million m3/year of final production, and a 27-year construction and O&M role. Its Q1 2026 statement and June 2026 integrated report confirm continued contractor execution but do not quantify marine progress. A current project-team profile targets first-phase completion in February 2027 and second-phase completion in August 2028. ACCIONA's project profile gives 559,000 m3/day in the first stage and 279,500 m3/day in the second. NOVEC's marine study confirms the technical basis for bathymetry, geology, seawater quality, waves and currents. The procurement basis does not confirm final selected geometry, tunnel breakthrough, permanent connection, dilution performance, first water or commercial operation.

Marine-system delivery and operating implications

The owner scope joins final-capacity intake towers and emissaries, raw-water basin civil works, first-phase screening and desanding equipment, a discharge charging basin and emissaries with dilution, controls, tunnels and electrical assets. A late or partially accepted interface can hold back both the first operating block and the later expansion, so procurement design scope must remain separate from installed and accepted condition.

Evidence conclusion

Testing, acceptance and operating evidence

Casablanca concentrates both phases' schedule risk in common marine, tunnel and electrical systems designed for final capacity. ONEE's procurement basis defines responsibility and design scope, while the delivery evidence must still progress from tunnels and shafts through intake towers, emissaries, pumping-basin systems, dilution, permanent connections, energisation and wet testing to accepted first-phase output and commercial operation. Construction revenue or a target date alone does not establish that progression.

Outstanding evidence

  • Physical completion of common marine and tunnelling systems
  • Permanent intake and discharge connections and wet testing
  • Electrical energisation and first-phase integrated commissioning
  • ONEE confirmation of first water and operating acceptance
  • Interface readiness for the additional 100 million m3/year stage

Related records 1

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