The GCC will increase its total seawater desalination capacity by nearly 40% by 2020 in an effort to meet the rapidly increasing demand for potable water in the region, according to new figures issued by the International Water Summit in collaboration with MEED Projects.
According to MEED Projects data, the GCC’s current seawater desalination capacity of approximately 4,000mn imperial gallons a day (MIGD) is set to increase to more than 5,500MIGD – nearly 40% –  over the next five years as the GCC states invest heavily in increasing potable water supply.
Desalination is becoming an increasingly important matter for countries like the UAE and Qatar, which have experienced rapid rises in demand for water on the back of strong economic and population growth, and Saudi Arabia where groundwater supplies are depleting.
As a result, there is a growing need for new water resources, said Ed James, director (Content & Analysis) at MEED Projects, the region’s leading online projects tracking service.
Currently, the demand for potable water in the region is about 3,300MIGD, and expected to grow to about 5,200MIGD by 2020. While current reserve margins between supply and demand appear to be at comfortable levels, at country and local network levels the supply-demand gaps are much smaller.
For example, while Qatar and the UAE have enjoyed comfortable reserve margins in recent years, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait have faced real challenges meeting demand, especially during the summer months. Ageing plants also do not always operate at full design capacity, further reducing the theoretical total output.
“As oil revenues decrease and the issue of water has risen up the political agenda, governments have acted to try and dampen demand and reduce capital and operational expenditure. For example, earlier this year Abu Dhabi imposed water tariffs for the first time for the UAE nationals while increasing existing prices for expatriate users as a means of decreasing subsidies and lowering demand. The move emulated Dubai’s decision in 2010 to raise water tariffs with the result that annual demand growth slowed from 10 per cent to just 4 per cent in the emirate,” James said.
“Our data shows that over the last 10 years, the region has invested $76bn in standalone water projects. If we add the power component investment of these desalination facilities, that figure exceeds well over $100bn. Going forward, we expect the largest investments to be made in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Kuwait, which have the steepest short-term demand projections. The addition of more than 1,500MIGD of new capacity will likely require a similarly large amount of investment.
A major driver of these investments will go towards developing less energy-intensive methods of desalinating water, added James. Traditionally dominant forms of thermal distillation in the region, such as multi-stage flash (MSF) or multiple-effect distillation (MED), require large amounts of energy, and have become less attractive as GCC states find themselves burning increasing amounts of hydrocarbons that could instead be conserved, exported or exploited to develop heavy industry.
“Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technology is becoming increasingly prevalent in the region because it relies on a chemical rather than thermal solution to desalinating seawater. Not only does the technology save on power, but it means countries can also lower their potential carbon emissions,” James said.
Commercial Bank sponsors SMEs meet
Commercial Bank has announced its sponsorship of “The International Conference on Access to Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs in the Arab World,” hosted by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Qatar University (QU).
The event focused on the importance of access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the reasons why efforts to develop SMEs in the Arab world are often constrained by access to finance.
The two-day conference was aimed at encouraging academics, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to disseminate and exchange knowledge about the use of global benchmarking indicators of the business environment in the Arab world.
Commercial Bank CEO Abdulla Saleh al-Raisi said: “Commercial Bank is proud to support Qatar Development Bank and Qatar University in this topical conference with our sponsorship and participation. Commercial Bank actively supports the Qatar National Vision 2030, which emphasises achieving economic diversity and sustainability through SMEs.
“Commercial Bank is committed to serving the needs of SMEs to support the growth and vitality of our national economy by providing targeted support for SMEs to grow and succeed through our bespoke, value-added products and services, including financing.”