RIYADH, 18 February 2004 — The Kingdom, already the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, announced yesterday that it will construct six more desalination plants in the near future, taking the total to 36. Four of them, for the production of both drinking water and electricity, will cost SR20 billion, Deputy Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah A. Al-Hussain announced yesterday.
He was inaugurating the two-day forum on desalination and water treatment technology held under the auspices of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC). A large number of Saudi and joint venture firms are participating in the show, which features locally manufactured spare parts required by the desalination and water treatment industries.
Al-Hussain, who is also the governor of SWCC, said the six desalination plants would be set up in Farsan, Qunfudha, Al-Laith, Rabiq, Al-Wajea and Al-Umlaj.
The biggest desalination plant in the Kingdom is the SR3.71 billion Al-Shuaiba plant, whose production capacity in the second phase will rise to 150 million cubic meters from the current level of 24.6 million cubic meters in the first phase.
In response to a question, the governor denied the government lacked commitment to encouraging the private sector. He said SWCC had always supported the private sector in the purchase of spare parts.
As a result of this policy, it reduced by 42 percent the cost of spare parts required for the desalination plants. This was possible only by cutting down the imports of spare parts, he said, adding: “We have worked with many manufacturers, including chemical firms, both local and foreign. We were also able to achieve a fourfold decrease in the cost of anti-scalers by patronizing the local industry.”
Earlier, Dr. Adil Bushnak, chairman of the Bushnak Group, said the Kingdom’s desalination industry needed to improve its technological skills before going ahead with the manufacture of certain spare parts, citing the example of membranes used in the desalination process.
“Synthetic membranes call for an advanced fiber technology. You cannot afford research and development just for desalination. You have to produce fibers and be ready with all other applications in order to justify investment in R&D.”
He said the current growth of the Kingdom’s water treatment industry was only in the direction of the small-scale sector, especially in the production of chemicals for water treatment. Manufacture of membranes for desalination plants, on the other hand, was both a capital-intensive project and also required a high level of expertise, for which the Kingdom was not yet ready.
However, he added: “I am glad that SWCC has recognized the need for the local manufacture of spare parts.”
