ALGERIA: Corso desalination plant operational after 2 years of work
The Corso desalination plant in the wilaya of Boumerdès in Algeria is finally 100% operational, Algerian Energy Company (AEC) recently announced. The new plant has a capacity of 80,000 m3 per day.
About six months. That’s how long it will take for the Corso seawater desalination plant, 25 km east of the capital Algiers, to become fully operational. The plant, located in the wilaya of Boumerdès in Algeria, has just reached its full capacity of 80,000 m3 per day. The announcement was made by the Algerian Energy Company (AEC), one of the subsidiaries of the Société nationale pour la recherche, la production, le transport, la transformation, et la commercialisation des hydrocarbures (SONATRACH) selected to implement the desalination project. Société Algérienne de Génie Civil et Bâtiment (GCB) and Cosider Canalisation were also involved in the work.
The new plant has doubled its production capacity in order to meet the water shortages experienced by Corso. For the record, the Corso desalination plant had a capacity of 40,000 m3 per day in April 2023, when it was partially commissioned.
Improving water supply in Algiers
The Corso seawater desalination plant is 100% operational exactly two years after construction work was launched in September 2021 by AEC, GCB and Cosider Canalisation. At the same time, work began on the Bateau cassé and El Marsa desalination plants, both in Algiers, with capacities of 10,000 m3 and 60,000 m3 per day respectively.
The Bateau cassé plant in Bordj El Kiffan has been undergoing production tests since April 2022. These tests will lead to the commissioning and operation of the plant. The El Marsa station, located in the eastern suburbs of Algiers, went into service in March 2023.
The series of three stations built in the Algerian capital will help to increase its installed desalination capacity. A new plan should take over to further mitigate the effects of water stress in Algiers. In the first phase, it provides for the construction of a desalination plant at Cap Djenat, with a capacity of 400,000 m3 per day. To the west of Algiers, another plant will be built with a capacity of 250,000 m3 per day, and a third with a capacity of 250,000 m3 per day in the wilaya of El Tar.
