Morocco-Russia, towards cooperation in the desalination sector?
The Russian giant Rosatom and the Moroccan company Water and Energy Solutions have signed a memorandum of understanding with a view to cooperating on the implementation of water desalination, conditioning and purification projects. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum, held in St Petersburg on 27 and 28 July.
The development projects will be assigned to Rusatom Smart Utilities, a division of the national atomic energy company Rosatom operating in the energy industry, the information technology sphere, and the housing and utilities sector. This company manages the company's non-nuclear production, implements projects not only in the field of renewing resource supply, but also in the digitalisation of municipal and regional management and the development of the urban environment.
Coping with endemic drought
Rosatom's First Deputy Director General for Development and International Affairs, Kirill Komarov, took the opportunity to highlight the problem of water scarcity, which more and more countries are facing. “According to the UN, more than two billion people today suffer from a lack of drinking water. To solve this problem, considerable joint efforts are needed on the part of public authorities and global companies with the necessary expertise”, said Kirill Komarov.
Morocco has been facing endemic drought for several years, due to climate change. The lack of rainfall is having a negative impact on agricultural production and water supplies. According to World Bank figures, agriculture alone accounts for 88% of total water consumption in Morocco. To improve water management, the Moroccan Ministry in charge of the sector has put in place a strategy aimed at boosting “conventional” and “non-conventional” water resources, in particular through desalination plants and wastewater treatment.
The Moroccan government has also committed 383 billion MAD ($37.6 billion) over 30 years to strengthen national water supply infrastructures for domestic and agricultural purposes as part of a global 2020-2050 plan. Nevertheless, Morocco remains one of the countries with the lowest per capita water resources, with an average of 645 cubic metres per year in 2015.
The need to develop partnerships in the water sector is therefore all the more vital for Morocco. The signing of this memorandum with Water and Energy Solutions will pave the way for broader cooperation in the field of desalination and water conditioning. In particular, Rosatom plans to apply its technologies to supply green water to both the production sector and the region's population.
Rosatom, recognised expertise in the water sector
In a press release, Rosatom stated that it had accumulated considerable experience in the creation of desalination and water conditioning units, both for the industrial sector and for domestic consumption. The company also added that “the engineering solutions and equipment of the group's companies in the field of water purification for the energy sector, industrial and petrochemical plants are now being used in Russia and around the world”.
In recent years, Rosatom has been very active in the construction of desalination plants, the most notable of which are Akkuyu in Turkey and Aktau in Kazakhstan. There is, however, something special about these projects, as each of the units has been coupled to a nuclear power plant. The construction of desalination units combined with a nuclear power plant is part of the integrated solution offered by Rosatom to its potential customers. According to the company, integrating an energy source such as nuclear power would optimise costs and materially reduce the basic cost of desalinated water.
Therefore, it's not impossible that Morocco will be building a nuclear power station in cooperation with the Russian company in the future. All the more so since, in 2022, Rosatom and the Kingdom of Morocco signed a cooperation agreement in at least fourteen areas, including the nuclear sector. Under this agreement, Russia is to assist the Moroccan government in creating and improving nuclear energy infrastructure, designing and building nuclear reactors, water desalination plants and an elementary particle accelerator. Moscow is also to provide its services and expertise in the spent and radioactive nuclear fuel cycle and waste management.
Russia, a reliable and pragmatic partner?
At the signing of the agreement, Mohammed Amine Cherkaoui, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Water and Energy Solutions, stated that “the relationship of trust is one of the key values in a rapidly changing world, and the signing of the memorandum is a perfect example of this. The Russian Federation keeps its word and is ready to help and share its know-how with our countries. The fact that Rosatom has decided to work with the Kingdom of Morocco is excellent proof that we can and want to develop together, helping each other to provide green water at an affordable price”.
The countries of the Maghreb and the Middle East often emphasise the reliable and constant nature of their partnership with Russia. In the eyes of the countries of the region, the Kremlin's political line is constant, due to the authoritarian nature of its regime and the constancy of Vladimir Putin's mandate. Moscow is also perceived as a pragmatic government, which does not interfere in the domestic politics of its partner countries and attaches almost no importance to ethical and moral issues.
Moreover, bilateral cooperation with Moscow is rarely interrupted by international crises. Russia adopts a policy of compartmentalisation, which means that the various areas of cooperation have little influence on each other. This ensures the reliability of cooperation with Moscow, where external factors have no influence on the smooth running of a project. This was the case for the Akkuyu power plant in Turkey, which was not affected by the crises of 2015-2016 or the war in Ukraine.
Morocco's other projects
Russia is not Morocco's only partner in this sector. In June, Spain decided to grant Morocco a repayable loan of five million euros for the creation of two new water treatment and desalination plants to combat water stress, to the benefit of both countries.
Morocco currently has nine seawater desalination plants, while a major seawater desalination plant will soon be launched in Casablanca, according to Abderrahim El Hafidi, Director General of the National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE). According to him, this new management model will make it possible to deal effectively with water shortages and ensure national water security in the long term, independently of surface water.