Morocco will build a seawater desalination plant in the Casablanca-Settat region, said a senior government official.

The feasibility study and the institutional set-up of the project are currently being finalised, Charafate Afailal, secretary of state for water, was quoted as saying in a Morocco World News report.

“With increasing demand and insufficient local resources, the only recourse to reduce the deficit in industrial or agricultural drinking water is desalination of seawater,” he said.

The studies carried out to date show that the average volumes of water that could be desalinated by 2030 to ensure the supply of drinking water are estimated at almost 425 million cu m, the report said.

The construction of desalination plants in Laayoune, Agadir, Tiznit-Sidi Ifni, Chtouka, Essaouira, Safi, El Jadida, Casablanca, Al Hoceima, and Saidia are also on the agenda, he added.