RIYADH, 5 April 2003 — Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) will need SR53 billion during the next 17 years to implement new water desalination projects, according to a SWCC report.
The report does not mention the impact of the Iraq war on the new desalination projects, which should be priority for the Kingdom to implement keeping in view the depleting water resources of the Gulf region.
The SWCC has stepped up efforts to complete a number of desalination projects in a renewed move to provide access to potable water for the growing population of the Kingdom.
Currently, there are 30 desalination plants with a capacity to produce more than 2.9 million cubic meters of water daily. These plants are also capable of producing more than 3,400 megawatt of electricity.
The new desalination projects on completion will cater to the water and power requirements of several cities and villages across the country, according to the report. Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of desalinated water with a number of high-tech plants producing potable water and power for its 22 million population.
Desalinated water constitutes more than 70 percent of water supply in the Kingdom. Its desalinated water output amounts to 30 percent of the total world’s production.
The desalination plants operating across the Kingdom have been installed according to the highest standards. But desalination has been proving to be a costly option with billions of dollars being spent on these plants. This has now prompted the Kingdom to review its water strategies.
This concern has given birth to a comprehensive national plan for water security. The plan aims at realizing the ideal use of water resources, implementing programs for rationalizing water consumption on the local level and to find out solution to the problems related to dwindling water resources.
The annual rainfall in Saudi Arabia is also being utilized to serve the purpose under this national plan.
