Desalination

Addressing water security in the Middle East

Saudi Arabia, UAE and Türkiye identified as growth hotspots in new World Future Energy Summit Report.

ANEW REPORT commissioned by the World Future Energy Summit, a global platform for future energy and sustainability – has highlighted desalination, wastewater treatment and digitisation as key growth opportunities for the Middle East’s water sector. The report, by business consultancy Frost & Sullivan, has identified Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Türkiye as water sector growth hotspots.

The report says that despite the Middle East and Africa being the world’s desalination leader, with 48% of global operational capacity, there is still room for growth as the region battles with insufficient groundwater, low per capita water availability and growing water requirements. The report says the region will increasingly ditch high energy consuming thermal desalination technologies in favour of reverseosmosisbased (RO) plants powered by renewables, including solar.

A high potential opportunity in the wastewater sector is identified as zero liquid discharge (ZLD) solutions, which enable the recovery of usable water and treated contaminants from wastewater before reducing it to solid waste without any harmful environmental impact. The report forecasts compound annual growth of 8% in the Middle East’s ZLD market to 2025, by when it could account for up to US$100mn in revenue.

Leen AlSebai, head of World Future Energy Summit and general manager of RX Middle East, which organises the event, commented, “The Middle East and North Africa is now the world’s most waterscarce region with only 1.4% of its freshwater resources. Yet the region, currently with 6.3% of the global population, is witnessing rapid population growth and increasing water demand. Countries throughout the region are looking urgently for technologies to increase supply, manage demand, and reduce longterm water pressures. The Water Forum will drive forward the global and regional water security conversation, while facilitating public and private sector business partnerships to enable innovation and sustainability in the region’s water sector.” ■

The report says the region will increasingly ditch high energy consuming thermal desalination technologies in favour of reverse‐osmosis‐based (RO) plants powered by renewables, including solar.