Government plans to launch a tender for the desalination plant by the end of the year

The Government is "working" to, by the end of the year, open the tender for the construction of the desalination plant in the Algarve. The location of this infrastructure should be known "during this week", said the Minister for the Environment. 

Duarte Cordeiro participated, on the morning of Monday, June 5th, in the 8th Meeting of the Local Council for Monitoring Climate Action in the Municipality of Loulé, which took place at the Hotel Ria Park, in Vale do Garrão (Almancil), where he spoke of the future desalination plant .

This is one of the planned investments in the Algarve Water Efficiency Plan, will cost 50 million euros, with support from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), and will have a capacity of up to 24 cubic hectometers.

The minister guaranteed that, "during this week", he will seek to "provide more in-depth information regarding the studies, environmental impact and location" of this power plant, which will be either in the municipality of Albufeira or in Lagos, with the first location being the most likely.

«We are working to, until the end of the year, open the tender because it is a work that has to be concluded by the end of 2026, according to the schedule foreseen in the PRR», said the minister.

Duarte Cordeiro also took the opportunity to leave a message to the private sector on the issue of lack of water.

Recognizing that "all the investments foreseen" in the Water Efficiency Plan will increase availability "by about 50 cubic hectometers", the minister also considered that it is necessary to "return responsibility to the economic sectors".

«If there are sectors that need much more water, then they can make the investments themselves, as is being considered in Mira, where farmers are considering investing in a desalination plant for private use», he explained.

«We are not closed to these possibilities», he stressed.

On this visit to the region, Duarte Cordeiro also addressed the recent measures taken due to the lack of water in the region, not excluding the adoption of new actions if necessary.