As Senegal gears up for the commencement of first gas and first oil production in 2024, the government has initiated several significant infrastructure projects to leverage the country’s anticipated GDP growth of 9.2% in 2024. To seize this opportunity and achieve emerging nation status, the government has introduced the Emerging Senegal Plan 2035. The plan covers crucial projects across various sectors including agro-industrial zones, gas-to-power plants and the Diamniadio digital technology park.
Among the priorities identified by Senegal is the need for water, particularly in Dakar, the country’s capital, which is poised to see a demand-increase of 100% between 2025 and 2035. The state-owned Société Nationale des Eaux du Sénégal (SONES) has assessed the current water deficit in this area at 47,000 m3 per day. Authorities also anticipate an increase in water demand in “emerging hubs” such as the new city of Diamniadio, located about 30 km from the capital; the city of Thiès, 70 km away; and the Petite Côte area on the country’s coast. To address this issue, SONES launched a desalination plant construction project in Dakar’s Mamelles area in 2015.
The Mamelles desalination plant, with an initial capacity of 50,000 m3 per day, expandable to 100,000 m3 per day in a later phase, is modeled after desalination facilities in Gulf countries such as Al Khafji Plant in Saudi Arabia. The desalination plant is expected to utilize a reverse osmosis technique, which involves transforming two liters of seawater into one liter of demineralized water and one liter of brine. The project boasts a budgeted cost of €200 million, with a completion date set for 2025.
The project is being developed by the Senegalese government and will be supported financially by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Japanese private company Nippon Koei, acting on behalf of JICA, and French construction company Eiffage are executing the project, while engineering contractor VA Tech Wabag is responsible for the water treatment process. Project management company Toyota Tsusho Corporation will co-manage the project for 30 months.
“This complex and unprecedented project marks a major milestone in the implementation of the Emerging Senegal Plan,” explained Senegalese President Macky Sall during the inauguration of the works, stressing, “The commissioning of the plant and the simultaneous renewal of 316 km of largely aging distribution network will have a positive impact on 16 municipalities, benefiting over a million people in areas located at high altitude or at the end of the network.”
In parallel, SONES plans to implement several other strategic projects to support the desalination plant in Mamelles. A new treatment plant on Lake Guiers, with a capacity of 100,000 m3, and a freshwater extraction plant at the Tassette, with a total daily volume of 20,000 m3, are expected to be operational by 2030. These projects will be funded by revenues derived from the country’s first gas.
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