People in Agadir, Morocco, see their new desalination plant as a way to deal with years of too little rain.
摩洛哥阿加迪尔的人们认为,他们的新海水淡化厂是应对多年降水太少的一种方式。
Dry winters have led to reduced water supplies for homes and agriculture.
干燥的冬季导致家庭和农业用水供应量减少。
But plans to expand the country's desalination program may depend on efforts to power it with forms of renewable energy.
但扩大该国海水淡化项目规模的计划可能取决于用各种可再生能源为其提供动力的努力。
Smaller desalination plants have been operating in Morocco for years.
规模较小的海水淡化厂已在摩洛哥运营多年。
But, the one that started working in Agadir this summer is by far the biggest.
但是,今年夏天在阿加迪尔开始运转的那家工厂是迄今为止规模最大的一家。
It is also the first plant of its kind meant to deal with reduced rainfall.
这也是第一个用来应对降雨量减少的工厂。
Rachid Boukhenfer is a local official.
拉希德·布肯费尔是一名当地官员。
He said, "...without desalination Agadir could not have found enough water to drink and we would have had longer, worse cuts in supply."
他说:“……如果不进行海水淡化,阿加迪尔就找不到足够的水来饮用,我们的供水可能会面临更长时间、更严重的短缺。”
That early statement about the plant's effectiveness comes as the government plans 12 additional desalination plants.
在政府计划再建12座海水淡化厂的同时,也发表了有关该工厂有效性的早期声明。
It is part of an expected investment in $12 billion in water projects from 2020 to 2027.
这是2020年至2027年期间预计投资120亿美元的水利项目的一部分。
The new plants will join nine smaller ones already operating.
这些新工厂将加入已经投入运营的9家较小的工厂的行列。
The new ones are supposed to open by 2035, the state water and electricity utility ONEE said in an email.
国家水电公用事业公司ONEE在一封电子邮件中说,新的海水淡化工厂预计将在2035年之前投入使用。
Morocco now depends on surface and underground water for nearly all its freshwater use.
摩洛哥目前使用的几乎所有的淡水都依赖地表水和地下水。
Most of it comes from a group of 149 dams.
其中大部分来自149座大坝。
Five years of very little rain, or drought, have left many of the water supplies reduced.
五年来几乎没有降雨,即干旱,导致许多水资源供应站水量减少。
Agriculture Minister Mohammed Sadiki recently told parliament most water would be taken from irrigation to supply drinking water.
农业部长穆罕默德·萨迪基最近告诉议会,大部分饮用水将从灌溉水中提取。
Rainfall is often the biggest issue affecting Moroccan economic growth rates.
降雨往往是影响摩洛哥经济增长率的最大问题。
This year, the cereals harvest was two-thirds smaller than in 2021 and milk output down by 30 percent from the year before.
今年的谷物收获量比2021年减少了三分之二,牛奶产量比前一年下降了30%。
"I'm not even sure I will sow wheat this year because the rainfall has been so late," said Zakaria Khatabi, a farmer in Zhiliga, north of Rabat.
拉巴特北部芝利加的农民扎卡里亚·哈塔比说:“我甚至不确定今年是否会播种小麦,因为降雨太晚了。”
The 12 new desalination plants planned or under way should reduce dependence on surface and groundwater from 97 percent to 80 percent by 2035, ONEE said.
ONEE表示,到2035年,计划或正在建设的12个新的海水淡化厂应该会将该国对地表水和地下水的依赖程度从97%减少到80%。
Building on the most important plant is to start next year.
最重要的工厂将于明年开工建设。
It will supply Morocco's biggest city Casablanca.
它将供应摩洛哥最大的城市卡萨布兰卡的用水。
The plant could start operations in 2026.
该工厂可能会在2026年开始运营。
However, Morocco depends on imported fuels, such as oil and gas, for most of its power production.
然而,摩洛哥的大部分电力生产依赖石油和天然气等进口燃料。
Costs for those fuels have added to the country's trade deficit.
这些燃料的成本增加了该国的贸易赤字。
Energy represents 45 percent of the total cost of desalination, ONEE head Abderrahim El Hafidi said.
能源占海水淡化总成本的45%,ONEE负责人阿卜杜勒-拉希姆·哈菲迪说。
Morocco wants to increase renewables as a share of its total power output to 52 percent by 2030 from 20 percent now.
摩洛哥希望到2030年将可再生能源占其总发电量的比例从目前的20%提高到52%。
The goal is to reduce dependence on imports and lower electricity costs.
其目标是减少对进口燃料的依赖,降低电力成本。
All the new desalination plants, including Agadir, were meant to be powered by renewable energy.
所有新的海水淡化厂,包括阿加迪尔,本来都是由可再生能源提供动力的。
But, the Agadir plant is so far being powered directly from the national power supplies.
但是,到目前为止,阿加迪尔海水淡化厂直接由国家电力站供电。
Reuters reports that a person close to the project said the government is considering an offer for a renewable energy plant.
据路透社报道,一位了解该项目的人士表示,摩洛哥政府正在考虑收购一家可再生能源工厂。
The deal would power the Agadir desalination center in an effort to reduce the cost of water.
这笔交易将为阿加迪尔海水淡化中心提供电力,以降低水的成本。
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!