Consortium Wins Casablanca Waste-to-Energy Contract

BUTEC said on August 28 that it had secured a major engineering, procurement and construction contract for Casablanca’s waste-to-energy project, in partnership with Swiss technology company Kanadevia Inova. The award sits within a 33.5-year concession held by a consortium of Nareva, Kanadevia Inova and Japan’s Itochu Corporation with the Municipality of Casablanca. The project centers on an integrated waste-treatment and energy complex near the Mediouna landfill in the Casablanca-Settat region. Company statements describe it as Morocco’s first integrated waste-to-energy project and one of the country’s largest waste-management developments. ### Who actually won what in this deal? BUTEC said the consortium that holds the Casablanca concession entrusted it with the EPC contract for the project, meaning it will handle broad construction and engineering delivery for the plant and related works. Kanadevia Inova said it is both a concession partner and the technology specialist responsible for the process scope, operations support, long-term maintenance and part of the financing. (africa-newsroom.com) The concession itself was signed on August 4 by Kanadevia Inova, Nareva and Itochu with the Municipality of Casablanca, alongside electricity off-take agreements with SRM Casablanca-Settat and Morocco’s National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water, known as ONEE. Itochu said it would invest in the project company Al Beida Clean Power through its UK subsidiary I-Environment Investments Ltd. (africa-newsroom.com) ### What is being built near Casablanca? The Mediouna site will anchor an integrated system that combines waste incineration, landfill management, biogas recovery and solar generation. Kanadevia Inova said the facility will process about 1.5 million tonnes of municipal solid waste a year, while Itochu said the project also includes operating, closing and managing existing Mediouna landfill sites and building and operating new landfill sites. (kanadevia-inova.com) The power component is large by local standards. Kanadevia Inova put the plant’s installed baseload electricity capacity at about 126 MWe, complemented by 50 MWp of solar photovoltaic generation and 4 MW of landfill biogas recovery, for total annual electricity production of around 1 terawatt-hour. Itochu described the incineration-based generation capacity at 115 MW and said total output from all facilities would cover the annual energy needs of about 1 million people. (kanadevia-inova.com) The difference appears to reflect how the companies describe the incineration unit versus the full integrated complex. ### Why is the 33.5-year concession central to the story? The 33.5-year term gives the consortium long-duration control over treatment of Casablanca’s municipal waste, including the construction period. Kanadevia Inova said the concession provides for the exclusive treatment of the city’s municipal waste, serving more than 4.2 million inhabitants in Greater Casablanca. (kanadevia-inova.com) Itochu said the concession was acquired through agreements signed with Casablanca Municipality on August 4, together with the power purchase arrangements. That structure matters because the project is not just a plant build; it combines waste handling, electricity sales and landfill operations under one framework. ### What are the companies saying the project will deliver? BUTEC said the plant will divert non-recyclable waste from landfill and convert it into energy, reducing reliance on dumping. (kanadevia-inova.com) Its statement said the facility could avoid up to 1 tonne of carbon-dioxide equivalent for every tonne of waste treated and supply 126 MWe of baseload electricity. (itochu.co.jp) Kanadevia Inova said the project would raise waste valorization rates to about 80% and generate around 1 TWh of electricity a year. Itochu said the project could avoid up to 128 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over 33.5 years. Those figures come from the companies involved; neither statement provided an independent third-party assessment in the materials reviewed. (africa-newsroom.com) ### What happens next? Kanadevia Inova said key contractual steps now being advanced include a limited notice to proceed and preparation of EPC activities. BUTEC said its scope includes civil works for the full installation as well as buildings, associated facilities, mechanical, electrical and plumbing works, and external infrastructure required for the project. (kanadevia-inova.com) The next milestones will run through the concession vehicle and the signed power agreements with ONEE and SRM Casablanca-Settat. Itochu said it is taking its stake through Al Beida Clean Power, while Kanadevia Inova said long-term operations support and maintenance are part of the project structure already set out in the August 4 agreements. (itochu.co.jp) (kanadevia-inova.com)