ALGIERS - The rate of progress on the five seawater desalination plants currently under construction has reached over 75%, according to the Algerian Energy Company (AEC), affirming that the projects will be completed by the end of the current year.
In a statement to the local press, AEC Communications Director Mouloud Hachelaf said that “the construction of these new stations is now in its third and final phase, involving the delivery of equipment and connection, which is the most delicate stage”.
This program, which includes the construction of five desalination plants in the wilayas of El Tarf, Béjaïa, Boumerdès, Tipaza and Oran, at a cost of around $2.4 billion , according to the official, will increase the national production of drinking water from seawater desalination from 2.2 million m3/day to 3.7 million m3/day.
Furthermore, he said, these new plants, with a production capacity of 300,000 m3/day (total capacity 1.5 million m3/day), will supply a total of 15 million citizens, raising the contribution of desalinated water from 18% to 42% of national drinking water requirements by the end of the program in 2024.
Mr. Hachelaf also pointed out that Algeria is “by far” in first place in Africa in terms of desalinated water production capacity, and by the end of 2024, following the commissioning of the five projects currently underway, will occupy second place in the Arab world behind Saudi Arabia.
“Algeria has the financial and energy resources to invest so heavily in seawater desalination. It has the expertise not only to build the plants, but also to maintain them in production for up to 25 years”, asserts the same official.
Mr. Hachelaf also spoke of the additional program to build seven new seawater desalination plants by 2030.
This program is designed to increase national production capacity from 3.7 million m3 of desalinated water to 5.5 million m3, or 60% of national drinking water requirements.
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