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Welcome to Morocco 2012: “Desalination & Sustainability”
Conference Technical Program Chairmen
Miguel Angel Sanz Azzedine Elmidaoui
IDA Director; SMMD President;
Director of Development Vice President of Research
and Innovation, Degrémont and Cooperation, ITUn
Over the last decade, seawater desalination has grown exponentially around the world. North Africa, and especially the Maghreb area, is no exception. Tunisia has implemented a plan to add more than 200,000 m3/day of desalinated water within the next few years, and Algeria has constructed plants that have increased capacity by more than 2,000,000 m3/day since 2005.
This trend also extends to Morocco, where plans call for the development of several important plants to produce water for diverse purposes including phosphate mining, potable water and irrigation. This course of action could reach a volume of 500,000 m3/day, with some plants surpassing 100,000 m3/day in capacity.
In keeping with its mission, IDA is committed to taking an active role in the Maghreb area, as well as worldwide, to promote sustainable solutions in desalination and water reuse. As proof of this commitment, in 2011 the IDA organized a strategic desalination session with CDER (Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables of Algeria), with the support of the Algerian Energy Company (AEC) for the first International Seminar on Water, Energy and Environment, ISWEE’11.
It is within this framework that the IDA and the SMMD (Société Marocaine des Membranes et Dessalement) have organized this international conference on Desalination and Sustainability. The conference is presented in cooperation with ONEP, Ibn Tofaïl University and several distinguished Moroccan Ministries, with the support of IDA’s affiliate, the European Desalination Society (EDS). We would also like to take this opportunity to recognize EDS’s efforts in promoting and exchanging information about desalination in the region, which began in 2000 with the Euromed conference series.
The goal of this conference is to bring together leaders in the global desalination community with all local participants and decision-makers to exchange their experiences and ideas, present state-of-the-art desalination technology and equipment, and to promote strategies for practicing desalination in the most environmentally responsible manner within in the region.
Morocco, and especially ONEP, has experience in operating seawater desalination plants at several locations. Laayoune, their most prominent facility, is an SWRO plant in operation since 2003, with a total production of 24,000 m3/day. In addition, Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) has plans to build a station with more than 75,000 m3/day of capacity, and ONEP has launched its first large desalination plant in Agadir, which will have a capacity of 100,000 m3/day, using the BOT methodology. Coupled with the Ministry of Agriculture’s plans to construct an additional plant with matched volume, these plants will multiply in capacity by two to three times within the next few years. The challenge of scaling up capacity also presents a good and timely opportunity to discuss not only the technical aspects involved, but also financing and water costs. Sustainability depends on it.
Morocco is a country with no large reserves of oil and gas, but where there is ample supply of wind and sun that can be tapped as sources of renewable energy to power desalination plants. This conference will also explore this important concept as well as the industry’s experiences in harnessing the potential of wind and solar power to enhance sustainability.
For these many reasons, we invite the people of the Mediterranean and MENA regions to join us in Casablanca – an alluring, evocative city that is also the economic center of Morocco – to participate in the first desalination conference organized by the IDA in this country. We are confident that this event will be a huge success in pointing the way to sustainable and economical solutions as the desalination industry continues to grow in this thriving and exciting country. See you in March!
Organizers: In cooperation with: Supported by:
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