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To deal with water stress, Algeria is relying heavily on seawater desalination. The country which has chosen this path intends to strengthen its production capacities with the implementation of six new stations, in addition to those which are in progress.
It is in this sense that a national strategy has been put in place through the construction of 14 seawater desalination stations, with a production capacity estimated at 2.3 million cubic meters per day, according to the Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, who spoke on the occasion of a parliamentary day under the theme “Seawater desalination being a strategic choice of the State: achievements and challenges », organized by the APN’s housing, equipment, hydraulics and land use planning commission.
The minister indicated that these achievements made it possible to increase national production. “The first quarter of 2024 saw an increase in desalinated water production of around 13%, compared to the same period of 2023, i.e. 170 million cubic meters compared to 150 million cubic meters. during the first quarter of 2023,” he said. Mr. Arkab also announced that a complementary program has been launched for the construction of five additional seawater desalination stations, distributed in the wilayas of Tipasa, Boumerdès, Oran, El-Tarf and Béjaïa, with a total production capacity estimated at 1.5 million cubic meters per day. According to him, this will make it possible to meet 42% of drinking water needs from 2025.
In addition, the minister highlighted national know-how in desalination, indicating that the progress rate of these stations exceeds 65% and that they are still carried out by national public companies, subsidiaries of the Sonatrach Group ( GTP, ENAC, SARPI, GCB) as well as the Cosider Group.
In the same vein, Mr. Arkab indicated that at the beginning of the year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Algerian Energy Company (AEC), a subsidiary of Sonatrach, and the German group PEL, specialized in manufacturing of semi-permeable membranes, for the manufacture of this equipment in Algeria in order to reduce the import bill and launch a local industry and create jobs.
Six new stations are on the program
The second stage of this program aimed at strengthening production capacities should be characterized by the construction of six other seawater desalination stations. The Minister of Hydraulics, Taha Derbal, indeed affirmed that at the by 2025, six other desalination stations are planned, with the same production capacity, i.e. 300,000 cubic meters/day each, in the wilayas of Tlemcen, Mostaganem, Chlef, Tizi Ouzou, Jijel and Skikda, in addition to one station with an average production capacity in Tizi Ouzou with 60,000 cubic meters/day.
The minister added that the projects to connect the stations currently being carried out to the water supply and distribution networks, supervised by the hydraulic sector, are being completed. He also highlighted the importance of exploiting wastewater for the benefit of the agricultural sector to further ensure food security, which is mainly linked to water security.