JEDDAH, 28 January — Saudi Arabia plans to build 20 desalination plants to meet growing demand for fresh water triggered by a soaring population growth.
Another 13 projects to build pipelines with a total length of 15,000 kilometers for the transport of water, fuel and natural gas are under consideration on the eastern coast along the Arabian Gulf, said Abdullah ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Hussain, governor of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC).
Demand for domestic (household) consumption, which is rising at an average rate of 2.6 percent annually, will increase from 1.8 billion cubic meters in 2000 to 2.03 billion cubic meters in 2004, and to 3.1 billion cubic meters by the year 2020, Al-Hussain added.
The figures were contained in a special report issued by SWCC to mark 20 years of rule by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd.
Major cities to benefit from the new plants include Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Taif, Dammam and Jubail as well as other areas in the central and southern parts of the Kingdom.
The population of the Kingdom was 22.01 million according to 2000 figures, of whom 73.6 percent are Saudis. The average individual consumption of drinking water in major cities jumped from 120 liters per day in 1980 to 315 liters per day in 2000.
Saudi Arabia — which accounts for 21 percent of world production of desalinated water — has 30 plants built at a total cost exceeding SR70 billion, including SR15 billion for operation and maintenance. All run by SWCC, the stations produce over 3 million cubic meters per day of fresh water and 5,000 megawatt of electricity.
Several foreign companies are vying to enter the Kingdom’s water desalination industry, which experts estimate will need an investment of $40 billion over the next 20 years.
The drive is led by companies from the United States, Japan and Korea but involves local investors. The Supreme Economic Council, headed by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, has set up a permanent department to receive and scrutinize offers from local and foreign companies.
The report says more than 70 percent of local consumption in cities is now secured from desalination plants built along the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea. The first plant was built in 1928 in Jeddah by King Abdul Aziz to provide city’s population — as well as the pilgrims to Makkah — with drinking water.
The report said the government continues to provide water at the lowest rate to consumers compared to countries with abundant water supplies. While the production, pumping and transport of one cubic meter of desalinated water costs the state SR4, it is sold to consumers at 12.5 halalas.
