Mombasa County, Kenya, is set to get two desalination plants with the capacity to produce 130,000 cubic metres of fresh water per day.The construction of the facilities will begin in June with one being constructed in North mainland (Nyali or Kisauni) and the other in South (Likoni).
The projects will be carried out by two companies, Spanish and Swiss, who won the projects through a government tender carried out in 2017.
In March 2017, Spain’s Almar Water Solutions stated that it had pre-qualified for a design, build, operate, transfer (DBOT) project for Mombasa County, total capacity 270,000 m3/d, comprising: 100,000 m3/d in the West Mainland zone; 100,000 m3/d in the North Mainland zone; and in Likoni, a 70,000 m3/d plant.
Mombasa Water executive Fatma Awale said that 10 companies were eyeing the tender. She however did not reveal the cost of the projects.
According to Ms Awale, Mombasa County receives only 43,000 cubic metres from Baricho well field in Kilifi County way below the daily consumption of about 180,000 cubic metres.