Magtaa SWRO
Seawater RO, 500,000 m3/day in 25 modules of 21,000 m3/day, 24 running and one standby, at about 3.2 kWh/m3; the largest reverse osmosis plant in Africa at opening in Algeria.
Operational
The record
- Country
- Algeria
- Location
- Oran
- Coordinates
- 35.786, -0.149
- Technology
- Seawater RO
- Capacity
- 500,000 m3/day in 25 modules of 21,000 m3/day, 24 running and one standby, at about 3.2 kWh/m3; the largest reverse osmosis plant in Africa at opening
- Capital cost
- US$494 million
- Stage
- Operational
- Owner or client
- Algerian Energy Company, through the Tahliyat Myah Magtaa project company; now wholly owned by the Algerian Desalination Company
- Contractor
- Hyflux, through its MenaSpring Utility subsidiary
- Operator
- Algerian Desalination Company, with Tedagua of Grupo Cobra under a technical assistance contract
- Finance
- 632 million Singapore dollars, about 494.6 million US dollars; twenty-five year water purchase agreement with Algerienne des Eaux and Sonatrach
- Award or start year
- 2008
- Commissioned
- 2014-11
Record last checked 2026-09-18.
History
- 2008-04
Hyflux won the tender
- 2011-08
Original completion date missed after a warehouse fire on site
- 2014-11
Plant opened on 11 November, about three years late
- 2023-05
Recorded by the Algerian Desalination Company as wholly state owned
Sources
8 references
Every field in the record above is taken from the references below. A field that none of them confirms prints as a dash.
- Algerian Desalination Company, Magtaa. aec.dz.
- 500,000 m3/day on a 15 hectare site, now 100 per cent ADC. The sheet names Sidi Bel Abbes, whereas the plant stands at Mers El Hadjadj on the Gulf of Arzew in Oran wilaya, which is how it is recorded here.
- WaterWorld, Algeria's supersized 500,000 m3/day desalination plant open for business (Nov 2014), Internet Archive copy because the live page returns 403. web.archive.org.
- Hyflux won the bid in April 2008 against Acciona Agua, Befesa, GE Water with Orascom and Biwater with Tarco and Arcofina; the plant cost 632 million Singapore dollars, about 494.6 million US dollars, was originally due in August 2011, was delayed by a warehouse fire in 2011 and opened on 11 November 2014 under a twenty-five year water purchase agreement with Algerienne des Eaux and Sonatrach.
- Desalination.biz, Magtaa desalination turbocharger delivery complete (Jan 2011). desalination.biz.
- Energy Recovery supplied 25 turbochargers for the plant.
- Tedagua, Magtaa desalination plant. tedagua.com.
- MENA Water Review major projects register and PPP pipeline — compiled from procurer publications, development-bank project pages and trade reporting; each record names its source.
Tedagua holds a one-year technical assistance contract to operation and maintenance, to improve operation and define works to raise output. Coordinates from OpenStreetMap way 235162438, which reverse-geocodes to Mersat El Hadjadj in the Bethioua daira of Oran.