CASABLANCA, Morocco — A consortium led by waste-management company Kanadevia Inova plans to begin constructing a $1.5 billion Waste-to-Energy Project in Casablanca by the end of 2026, as Morocco seeks to reduce its reliance on landfills and modernize municipal waste infrastructure.
The project is expected to process approximately 1.5 million metric tons of waste annually and generate around 115 megawatts of electricity using a combination of waste, solar power and gas captured from the existing Médiouna landfill, according to Kanadevia Inova.
The consortium estimates that the electricity generated could serve nearly one million people. Full operations are targeted for mid-2030.
Financing Remains a Key Condition
Kanadevia Inova and its partners signed a concession agreement awarded by Casablanca’s city government on August 3. The consortium also includes Moroccan energy company Nareva and Japanese trading company Itochu, while Moroccan contractor Somagec is expected to carry out construction.
The project has secured a power-purchase agreement with Morocco’s state-owned electricity and water utility, ONEE. However, construction remains dependent on the consortium completing its debt and equity financing, which it aims to secure during the fourth quarter of 2026.
Kanadevia Inova Chief Executive Bruno-Frédéric Baudouin told Reuters that financing would be raised through Moroccan lenders. Construction is expected to take approximately three and a half years, although waste processing and power production could begin before the entire facility is completed.
Addressing Casablanca’s Landfill Challenge
The project is intended in part to address environmental and public-health concerns surrounding the Médiouna landfill outside Casablanca.
For decades, the site has received much of the metropolitan region’s household waste. Decomposing material has generated methane, while residents and authorities have raised concerns about odours, pollution and contaminated runoff affecting surrounding land.
The consortium says diverting waste from conventional disposal and capturing landfill gas could substantially reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Its emissions projections, however, remain company estimates and have not yet been independently verified publicly.
Part of a Broader Waste-Sector Overhaul
The Casablanca development aligns with Morocco’s National Municipal Waste Management and Valorization Program, established in 2023 to reduce landfilling, expand waste recovery and improve the sector’s environmental and financial performance.
Morocco has made significant progress in municipal collection. According to the World Bank, urban waste-collection coverage increased from 40% in 2008 to 96% in 2022. The sector nevertheless continues to face financing, landfill-management and environmental challenges.
In 2024, the World Bank approved a $250 million program supporting Morocco’s waste-sector reforms, including the rehabilitation of landfill sites, stronger emissions monitoring and expanded waste-recovery systems.
Waste-to-Energy Remains Contested
Waste-to-energy plants are increasingly being considered by rapidly growing cities seeking alternatives to open dumping and conventional landfills. They can reduce the volume of waste requiring disposal and limit methane emissions from decomposing organic material.
Their environmental role remains debated, however.
Critics argue that waste combustion produces carbon emissions and air pollutants and can compete with recycling and composting if facilities require a steady supply of combustible material. Supporters maintain that modern emissions controls and careful separation of recyclable and organic waste can make energy recovery a useful component of an integrated waste-management system.
The environmental performance of the Casablanca facility will therefore depend not only on its generating capacity, but also on its emissions standards, waste-sorting practices and relationship with Morocco’s broader recycling and waste-reduction policies.
A Test for Morocco’s Urban Waste Strategy
Casablanca’s project reflects a wider challenge confronting fast-growing cities: how to manage rising waste volumes while expanding essential infrastructure and limiting environmental harm.
For Morocco, the facility could reduce pressure on one of the country’s most problematic landfill sites while adding electricity to the national grid. Its broader significance, however, will depend on whether energy recovery is integrated into a system that also prioritizes waste reduction, reuse, recycling and transparent environmental oversight.
If the project meets its financing, construction and environmental targets, it could help shape how Morocco—and potentially other rapidly urbanizing countries—approaches the intersection of waste management, energy security and sustainable urban development.
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