A consortium of Metito, Orascom and Cobra has been awarded a contract to build a seawater desalination plant in Sfax, Tunisia, informs Energy & Utilities. The project was tendered to enhance water security in the country by the Societe Nationale d’Exploitation et de Distribution des Eaux (SONEDE), under the ministry of Agriculture.
The project to build a SWRO plant, funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Organisation (JICA), should begin operations in February of 2024.
The facility will have a capacity of 100,000 cubic metres of drinking water per day, with the possibility of doubling it to 200,000 cubic metres per day later on. Metito will be in charge of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), expected to last 30 months. The consortium will also be in charge of the facility’s operation and maintenance for the first two years after completion.
Karim Madwar, managing director of Metito Africa, said after the contract award was announced: "Water is a key contributor to the socio-economic development, from industries, to families and farms. Water is also a scarce resource, and this is contributing to the surge in the global demand for seawater desalination. The new plant in Sfax will ensure that the local communities have access to a clean, secure, and sustainable water supply.”
