Optimizing the Water-Energy Nexus in Arid Coastal Regions: Techno-Economic Analysis of Wind-Driven Desalination in Dakhla, Morocco

Desalination’s high energy demand has increasingly limited the sustainable supply of fresh water in arid coastal areas, posing a major challenge within the water-energy nexus. This paper develops and validates a comprehensive techno-economic framework that decouples water security from fossil fuel price volatility. Specifically, this study evaluates the integration of intermittent wind energy and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) financial models, using the Dakhla region of Morocco as a baseline case. The assessment rigorously examines the mutual dependence of surplus grid electricity sales, public capital subsidies, and desalination load factors across four distinct techno-economic scenarios. The results demonstrate a profound financial synergy: the combination of wind energy export revenues and targeted public grants drastically reduces the Levelized Cost of Water (LCOW) from a fossil-dependent baseline of 8,38 MAD/m 3 down to an optimal 2,71 MAD/m 3 . The findings reveal that utilizing the national electrical grid to monetize surplus wind energy is the most financially viable strategy to overcome the high costs of renewable desalination. Furthermore, closing the water affordability gap for agriculture cannot be achieved by technology alone; it requires a synergistic approach combining these dynamic energy-wheeling regulations with targeted public subsidies. By doing so, actively decoupling desalination from fossil fuels transforms a historically cost-prohibitive process into a sustainable, scalable driver for both agricultural expansion and regional decarbonisation. Ultimately, this research demonstrates that large-scale desalination achieves long-term economic sustainability only when engineered as a fully integrated renewable energy asset rather than an isolated water facility.