Morocco’s Agricultural Development Agency opened a third bidding round in late June 2026 for 35 farm projects near Dakhla, where state-owned farmland covering about 2,694 acres will be irrigated with desalinated Atlantic seawater from a plant that remains under construction, according to a report published on 27 October 2026 by ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. The ministry gives the desalination plant a design output of 100,000 cubic meters a day and an investment of 1.7 billion dirhams, while Nareva places the total project investment at $240 million ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
Key takeaways
- The third bidding round covers 35 farm projects on about 2,694 acres in state-owned farmland in Oued Ed-Dahab province ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
- The adjacent desalination plant has a stated design output of 100,000 cubic meters a day and an investment of 1.7 billion dirhams, according to Morocco’s energy ministry ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
- Nareva lists the neighboring 60-megawatt wind farm as operational but the desalination unit as under construction ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
- Around 80 percent of annual desalinated-water output is earmarked for the farm zone, with the remaining 20 percent intended for regional drinking-water supply ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
- No winners have been announced for the 2026 bidding round, and no official page gives a date for first desalinated-water deliveries to farms ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
What happened
The Agricultural Development Agency opened the third round in late June 2026 for 35 projects across roughly 2,694 acres in Bir Anzarane, within a planned irrigated zone of about 12,355 acres in Oued Ed-Dahab province ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. Winners are to receive long leases while the land remains in state ownership, and no list of winning bidders has been released ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
The tender comprises one small project, 28 medium projects covering about 855 acres, three large projects covering about 419 acres and three projects requiring local producers to work together ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. The grouped projects account for roughly 1,396 acres, or 52 percent of the land covered by the call ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
The water source is a desalination plant about 75 kilometers north of Dakhla operated by Dakhla Water and Energy Company, which is owned equally by Nareva and International Power, an Engie subsidiary ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. Nareva lists the neighboring wind farm as operational at 60 megawatts but the desalination unit as under construction, and provides no start date for the pumps, pipes or farm connections ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
The plant’s design output is reported as 100,000 cubic meters a day, while Nareva gives annual output as 37 million cubic meters and says approximately 80 percent will serve the farm zone and 20 percent will supply drinking water ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. The two published capacity figures do not establish the plant’s operating performance because the source also notes that an earlier Nareva sheet gave a daily output of 90,000 cubic meters ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
Specification Read
The reported scale is 100,000 cubic meters per day, equivalent to 100 MLD, with annual output stated as 37 million cubic meters ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. No population-equivalent loading, wastewater flow, BOD, COD or final discharge-quality values are reported, so the project cannot be converted into a conventional municipal wastewater plant-equivalent from the available information ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
This event bears directly on the brine-management and water-recovery stage of a desalination train, rather than on a reported municipal sequence of screening, primary treatment, biological treatment, tertiary treatment and disinfection. Such plants commonly use reverse osmosis, which produces a concentrated brine stream, and the source reports that most desalination processes create about 1.5 liters of concentrate per liter of drinking water ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. None of the proposed alternative desalination approaches tested by laboratories forms part of the Dakhla design ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde.
If your plant inquiry covers a 100,000 cubic meters-per-day desalination train, agricultural irrigation demand or coastal discharge constraints, this event means brine handling and assured water delivery must be scoped alongside the membrane system. Equipment selection for the wider treatment chain can be reviewed through our Water Purification and Municipal resources, while the commercial context is relevant to operators serving Industries We Serve.
For buyers, the principal issue is that the source gives no commissioning or first-delivery date, while the ministry page still lists 2024 as the wind farm’s planned start ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. Any schedule or performance guarantee therefore requires a confirmed startup milestone, guaranteed flow and specified brine-discharge acceptance criteria rather than reliance on the published design capacity alone.
FAQ
What capacity does the Dakhla desalination plant have?
Morocco’s energy ministry reports a design output of 100,000 cubic meters a day, while Nareva reports annual output of 37 million cubic meters and an earlier company sheet gave a daily figure of 90,000 cubic meters ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. Buyers should require the guaranteed daily throughput and clarify which published capacity is contractual before sizing downstream equipment.
How much does the Dakhla water project cost?
The energy ministry puts investment in the desalination plant at 1.7 billion dirhams, and Nareva gives total project investment as $240 million ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. These figures cover different scopes, so procurement teams should request a breakdown for desalination, pumping, distribution, farm connections and brine management when evaluating supplier bids.
When will desalinated water reach the Dakhla farms?
No official page gives a date for first deliveries to farms, and Nareva provides no start date for the pumps, pipes or farm connections ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. A buyer should treat first delivery as an uncommitted milestone and tie payment, testing and performance obligations to an agreed commissioning schedule.
What brine-management requirements apply to the project?
The source reports that most desalination processes create about 1.5 liters of polluted concentrate per liter of drinking water and warns that inadequate dilution can degrade coastal and marine ecosystems ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. UNEP wastewater expert Birguy Lamizana said that, in the meantime, “it’s important to raise awareness of the trade-offs with desalination” ECOticias.com - El Periódico Verde. Supplier selection should therefore include the proposed brine route and evidence of compliant coastal discharge.
