JEDDAH: The fourth Saudi Water and Power Forum opens in Jeddah today under the theme: Change, innovation and sustainable development. Now established as the major annual event for the Saudi water and power industry, SWPF 2008 is aimed at companies and investors hoping to capitalize on the additional 30GW of power generating capacity targeted by the Kingdom’s Water and Electricity Ministry for 2020.
Since Saudi Arabia is undergoing a period of growth, SWPF 2008 will focus on the huge potential for investment, and on how the water and power industry can take steps toward a successful and sustainable future.
Water and power are closely linked in the Kingdom, as some of the processes that desalinate seawater also produce electrical power.
The generation of the extra 30GW of power — effectively more than doubling the current installed capacity of 29.1GW — will cost an estimated $90-100 billion. Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Saline Water Conversion Corp. (SWCC) has estimated that through 2020 the Kingdom will need to spend $50 billion on water projects, many integrated with new power generation capacities, to meet the Kingdom’s rapidly growing water demand.
That figure rises to $624 billion investment over the next 15 years that will be needed to service a 45 percent population increase to 36.4 million predicted by 2020.
The statistics of the Kingdom’s water supply give clues as to where the priorities lie. Total water supply is 52 million cubic meters per day but water produced by desalination plants is 3 million cubic meters per day.
The forum has also invited international experts to give their input. One item on the agenda is the particularly thorny issue of the Impact of Tariff Policy on Utilities, under which it is usually assumed that consumers will pay for water. This has traditionally been a bone of contention in the Kingdom and has been solved in a large part by the government’s heavy — well in excess of 90 percent — subsidy on the retail price of water.
Not on the published agendum, but sure to arise, is the effect of water availability on national food security. The issue of food security has taken on an increasingly high profile over the last year or two, as prices on the world market rise, but Saudi Arabia’s ability to be self-sufficient in food production has not. The water-rich crop of rice, for example, has risen over 90 percent in the last year and India has imposed restrictions on its export. Saudi Arabia is the biggest food buyer in the Gulf region, the world’s largest importer of barley and the fifth biggest importer of rice.
Another question that is related and will raise passionate debate if it is asked is that of trans-boundary water resources and international treaties. In the search for new water resources other than desalination, this has had pronounced effects on the region. The conference begins its panel discussions and working sessions tomorrow.
