Mott Macdonald to advise lender in Moroccan dealination project

Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur has appointed consultant, Mott Macdonald, as technical advisor in support of the bank’s role as financer for a MAD 937 million (US$ 94.6 million) desalination project in Morocco.

The project is a public-private partnership for the finance, design, construction, operation and maintenance of a 100,000 m³/d reverse osmosis facility on Morocco’s seaboard between Agadir and Essaouira,

Morocco’s Office National de Electricité et de l’Eau Potable has launched the project which is being developed by a special purpose vehicle, SEDA, made up of a joint venture of Abengoa and InfraMaroc, a Moroccan investment fund.

Mott MacDonald will monitor the design and construction of the plant and analyse potential risks for the lender. Other responsibilities will include reviewing administrative procedures, the development of studies, works progress and the handover process.

Mott MacDonald’s project director, Philippe Auzet, said: most of the pumps, membranes for reverse osmosis and transformers are available on the Moroccan market “and will need to be imported from Europe and Asia.”

The project will upgrade the existing infrastructure that currently supplies potable water to 900,000 inhabitants in Agadir, Inezgane and Aït Melloul.
Construction scheduled for completion by the end of 2016.