RIYADH, 8 October — The third phase of Alkhobar desalination plant with a daily capacity of 240,800 cubic meters of water will be commissioned on Oct. 15, Water Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi announced yesterday.
The project, which includes a desalination plant and an electricity generating plant, was established at a total cost of SR3 billion, the minister told Saudi Press Agency.
He said a water distribution network with a 130-km-long pipeline would also be dedicated the same day. The pipeline was constructed at a cost of SR440 million to supply water to Alkhobar, Dhahran, Dammam, Seehat, Qateef, Safwa and Ras Tannura. Saudi Arabia is now the world’s largest producer of desalinated water. The 27 desalination plants provide drinking water to major urban and industrial centers through a network of pipes.
The desalination plants comes under the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, which is an independent body. Gosaibi is SWCC’s present chairman.
Desalination meets 70 percent of the Kingdom’s present drinking water requirement. Several new desalination plants are under construction.
Desalination plants also generate electricity. The Kingdom currently generates 3,600 megawatt of electric power by these plants, a figure that will rise to 5,000 megawatt when the new desalination and power plants go on stream.
The Shoura Council yesterday called for restructuring SWCC in tune with the government’s move to privatize the organization. Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr, secretary-general of the Shoura, said the consultative body made the proposal while discussing the corporation’s annual report for 2001.
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in water desalination facilities. SWCC’s desalination plants on the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf produce a total of 600 million gallons daily.
The Shuaiba desalination plant on the Red Sea is another milestone in the Kingdom’s efforts to make its water supply match its rapidly growing consumption. Shuaiba is a coastal town on the Red Sea, which is 68 km southeast of Jeddah.
The Kingdom plans to complete a number of desalination plants by the end of this year, which will bring the number of operational plants to 30.
The daily production capacity of these new plants is 2.9 million cubic meters, in addition to more than 3,400 megawatts of electricity.
