EGYPT – Egypt’s Engazaat is collaborating with Sweden’s Azelio and France’s Mascara Nouvelles Technologies to provide water to farms in Africa. The Save Cleantech Utilities coalition was announced on the sidelines of COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. The alliance aims to provide farmers in off-grid desert regions in Africa with a model for water and electricity services.
The alliance will set up water desalination systems via the Osmosun solution developed by Mascara and all the plants will be powered by renewable microgrids using solar photovoltaic panels and Azelio’s Tridonic energy storage technology.
In Egypt, the alliance will initially build a desalination plant in the Moghra region in the governorate of Marsa-Matruh. The plant will have a production capacity of 2,250 m3/d “at 1,000 ppm salinity” and will be powered by a 2.3 MW photovoltaic plant and a 260 kW/3300 kWh storage system. The plant is expected to be commissioned by autumn 2023 and according to the alliance it will be classified as the first and largest solar-powered brackish water desalination plant proposed under a solar energy financing program. (Afrik21)
JORDAN – On the sidelines of COP27, Israel, Jordan and the UAE have agreed under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to continue feasibility studies for two projects involving building a desalination facility at the Red Sea and a clean electric power generation plant in Jordan.
November last year the three countries had already signed a trilateral declaration of intent to embark on the project’s feasibility study. The desalination project on the Mediterranean is estimated to provide Jordan with 548,000 cubic meter desalinated water a day. (Zawya)
PORTUGAL – The Minister for the Environment and Climate Action of Portugal announced that the government is exploring the construction of a desalination plant for the Alentejo coast area, to support the regions drinking water needs which are under pressure from the tourism sector, industrial production and agriculture. For financing, the Minister said that the possibility of resorting to private or community investment is on the table.
Portugal is expecting to launch the country’s first mainland desalination plant in the Algarve in 2026. The project is valued at $46.7 million dollars and is currently in the development phase of the necessary studies in order to launch a contract out to tender. (The Portugal News)
MOROCCO – The National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) of Morocco and the national water company of Israel have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase cooperation between the two countries’ institutions in the area of drinking water.
The signing took place during the Global Investment Forum and under the agreement both authorities will work to establish cooperation in the areas of water and liquid sanitation. The two countries re-established relations in December 2020 and promised to cooperate on all levels, including trade, innovation and technology. (Morocco World News)
Consolidated Water’s George Town desalination plant on Grand Cayman. Credit: Consolidated Water
CAYMAN ISLANDS – Consolidated Water announced a 53% revenue growth to $25.1 million in the third quarter of over the same period last year. The increase in revenue resulted in part from a 14% increase in the volume of water sold on Grand Cayman, thanks to continued return of tourism activity. While tourist visitor numbers to Cayman are still below pre-pandemic levels, the company expects 2023 will see a return to those figures.
Gross profit for the third quarter of 2022 of $6.8 million was up 20% year on year and represented 27.3% of total revenue, down from up 34.7% of total revenue for the same period a year ago. During the third quarter, the company finalized the design and preliminary permitting activities for a new desalination plant it is building on Grand Cayman under the 10-year BDO contract with the Water Authority. (Cayman Compass)