The contract for the design, construction and operation of the future desalination plant in the Algarve, which should be built by the end of 2026, will be signed today in Albufeira in the presence of the Prime Minister, announced Águas do Algarve.
The contract award, which represents an investment of around 108 million euros, is part of the Algarve Regional Water Efficiency Plan, framed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
The project to build a desalination plant in the municipality of Albufeira is one of the measures in response to the drought affecting the southernmost region of mainland Portugal, as part of a package of measures launched by the previous Government.
The infrastructure will have an initial capacity of 16 million cubic metres (m3), but the company is designing it to have the capacity to treat up to three times more than that volume, that is, up to 24 million m3 of water.
The Algarve region has suffered, over the last few years, cycles of prolonged drought associated with a situation of water scarcity that is already considered structural, resulting in a decrease in the volumes of water stored in the various available sources.
The Portuguese-Spanish consortium of companies that will build the desalination plant will also be responsible for “operating the project for a period of three years” after the work is completed, according to Águas do Algarve.
Luís Montenegro is accompanied at the contract signing ceremony by Maria da Graça Carvalho, Minister of Environment and Energy, and by Manuel Castro Almeida, Deputy Minister for Territorial Cohesion.
Águas do Algarve is the public company responsible for the water supply in the region and is responsible for managing infrastructures such as dams and Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP).
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