Abstract
A rapidly-expanding market
Water desalination is gradually emerging as the leading solution to cope with
increasing water stress: i.e., the imbalance between water demand and
quantities available. The United Nations estimates that by 2025, two-thirds
of the world’s population will be affected by such challenges. The causes of
water scarcity are multiple, including climate change, intensive agriculture,
and population growth. This requires states to rethink their water policies,
which are central to preserving their stability, resilience and sovereignty.
A real “boom” in desalination industries is at work. The majority of Gulf
countries now largely depend on desalinated water for their inhabitants’
consumption: in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 42% of drinking water
comes from desalination plants producing more than 7 million cubic meters
(m3) per day, in Kuwait it is 90%, in Oman 86%, and in Saudi Arabia 70%.
In 2022, there were more than 21,000 seawater desalination plants in
operation worldwide, almost twice as many as a decade ago, and the sector’s
capacity is growing at between +6% and +12% per year.
By 2030, desalination capacity in Middle Eastern countries is expected
to almost double, as part of plans announced in the region to prepare these
economies for their transition to “post-oil” and to foster resilience. Saudi
Arabia’s desalination capacity is set to increase from 5.6 million cubic meter
(m3) per day in 2022 to 8.5 million m3 per day in 2025, and it will have to
cover more than 90% of the country’s water consumption. The same holds
for the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Israel, where the production of desalinated
water will more than double by 2030.
With the rise of available solutions to meet all such needs, these
technologies are now in demand on virtually every continent, while the
Middle East today represents only 50% of installed capacity worldwide.
In Africa, large-scale projects have recently been announced in Algeria and
Morocco, countries that until now have had sufficient resources. Other
countries such as Ghana, Senegal and Kenya supply many cities with
desalinated seawater. This is also the case for Cairo. In the Indo-pacific
region, particularly in China and India, the needs for desalinated water are
increasing, driven by growing industries and decreasing available water.
In 2020 alone, the construction of more than 35 desalination plants was
announced in China, as well as six in the Philippines, and six in Taiwan.
In the Americas, the west coast of the United States stands out with
important projects in California, and Texas is not far behind. In Latin
America, new projects are emerging in Peru and Chile, driven mainly by the
needs of the mining industry, while in Mexico the demand for desalinated
water notably comes from the population. Finally, island areas stand out for
their strong needs for desalinated water: Cebu in the Philippines, Cape
Verde, the Canary Islands and the Maldives are increasingly using
desalination capabilities.