Desalination in the Gulf region amounts to about 40% of the world’s desalinated water capacity, the 3rd Power and Desalination Summit was told yesterday.
In his presentation, Abu Dhabi-based ILF Consulting Engineers Middle East managing director Dr Corrado Sommariva noted that desalination is a critical component of sustaining life and economies in the Gulf region. In fact, he said most countries in the GCC rely on this technology to produce over 90% of their drinking water.
He was discussing about “Sustainable solutions to keep supplies ahead of demand.” Dr Sommariva has experience in thermal, reverse osmosis, and waste water systems and has served in various roles in all major desalination developments in the Middle East.
While desalination plants can be considered “strategic assets,” he said the technology requires huge investments – the time between planning and start-up can take 4 to 7 years but its use can last from 20 to 40 years. Dr Sommariva cited some of its downside which includes having high energy footprint.
“Desalination is a fast-changing technology and many technical parameters that have influenced today’s decision-making can drastically change during the asset lifetime.”
Cost of energy and chemicals, availability of steam, level of “O&M” expenditures, and the level of impact on the environment should also be considered in using the technology.
However, he stressed that desalination can support various societies in addressing their water scarcity problems.
Another speaker, Mubarak al-Nasr, managing director at Ras Laffan Power Company-Qatar, said that the Gulf had reached the point where the burden of energy requirements for power and water production had started hurting the countries’ economies.
“But fortunately, the region is rich in oil and gas resources and was coping with the daunting increase in the power and water demand by allocating additional energy resources,” he noted.