Algiers – President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, inaugurated today, Thursday, the White Cape sea water desalination plant in Oran, marking a significant step in the implementation of a comprehensive system of five desalination plants, exemplifying Algeria’s capability to overcome challenges swiftly and efficiently with its domestic workforce.
During a historic working visit to the Oran region, President Tebboune oversaw the inauguration of the largest desalination plant in Algeria, located at White Cape in Ain Kerma. He emphasized that completing this plant in less than 26 months “is what we call victorious Algeria,” highlighting “our achievement of monumental milestones quickly and using the latest technologies.”
The President noted that “with the willpower of every man, from the simplest worker to the highest official, we have risen to the challenge,” adding that “Independent Algeria, from where we started to where we have reached, has achieved monumental milestones quickly and using the latest technologies.”
This inauguration came just 26 months after the laying of the foundation stone in June 2022 by President Tebboune. Unlike past projects, which were often carried out in partnership with foreign entities, this program was entrusted entirely to national entities, such as Sonatrach and Cosisdar subsidiaries, showcasing the capabilities of Algerian institutions in construction, studies, and engineering. These efforts have been repeatedly commended by the President.
This project has saved Algeria nearly $1 billion, in addition to saving significant time. Projects similar to this in the past took more than 10 years to complete and often failed, resulting in substantial financial losses for the public treasury. This project exemplifies the dynamic “New Algeria” characterized by efficiency and meticulous planning, ensuring the achievement of national goals in the shortest time and at the lowest cost, according to observers.
Enhancing National Integration and Innovation
In this context, the CEO of Sonatrach, Rachid Hachi, stated that the national product integration rate in the desalination plants reached 30%. He explained that the five plants, completed under the accelerated plan initiated by President Tebboune, were built entirely by Algerian expertise and have a 30% national product integration rate.
The significance of this plan lies not only in the impressive combined production capacity of the five plants, estimated at 1.5 million cubic meters per day, but also in doubling the contribution of desalinated water to meet the total demand for drinking water from 18% to 42%.
The program includes the construction of desalination plants in the following locations: El Tarf (Kedia Deraouch), Bejaia (Tigremt-Touga), Béchar (Cap Jannat), Tipaza (Fouka), and Oran (White Cape), with a total cost of approximately $2.4 billion. These projects are expected to increase the national production of desalinated drinking water from 2.2 million cubic meters per day to 3.7 million cubic meters per day.
Each of these new plants, with a production capacity of 300,000 cubic meters per day, will supply water to 15 million citizens.
Article written by Nor Eleslam for dzwatch.dz.
