Morocco's green energy-powered desalination plant offers hope amid water shortages

Countries worldwide are grappling with water shortages, straining both drinking water supplies and agricultural needs. 

Morocco is addressing this challenge by adopting saltwater desalination. The process is energy-intensive but when powered by green tech like wind and solar, it can be an efficient solution.  

"Desalination and renewable power is a marriage made in heaven because both partners offer what the other needs," said Peter Fiske, executive director of the National Alliance for Water Innovation, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

This marriage is on display at Morocco's Agadir desalination plant, operated by Spanish energy and water firm Coxabengoa. The plant, utilizing wind and solar power, reportedly produces 275,000 cubic meters of water daily. Over half of this output is allocated to drinking water, sufficient to meet the basic daily needs of approximately one million people. The rest is directed to the agricultural sector.

As the demand for clean water grows and the costs of renewable energy fall, desalination plants powered by green energy are increasingly seen as crucial to combating dwindling water resources. Coxabengoa estimates that $60 billion in investments will be needed in the desalination sector over the next five years, driven by an anticipated annual growth rate of 10% for this technology.

"We need more and more water," said Nacho Moreno, CEO of Coxabengoa, in the Wall Street Journal, "but we must find a way to provide that water sustainably."