Experts

2025/05/29 8:26:46 AM

3 minutes read

Abu Dhabi, May 29/ WAM/ Experts in the water sector stressed that the growing gap between water demand and available resources requires adopting a comprehensive approach that focuses on reducing consumption, noting that technical developments in the field of desalination of water, especially by integrating photovoltaic energy technologies, contributed greatly to reducing desalination costs and enhancing operational efficiency.

This came during a discussion session held within the activities of the World Facilities Conference 2025, entitled “Global Leadership: Enhancing the Desalination Agenda towards sustainable water security”, with the participation of a group of executive leaders and specialists, among them Adri Paul, CEO of Disulinator, Johnny Obaid, Vice President of Fiolia Water Technology Company, and Doson Kim, CEO of Medison Energy, and Sumit Thakour, global director Water, cities, waste, and circular economy at the International Finance Corporation “IFC”, Khulu de la Rosa, CEO for the development of the water sector in Axiona, and Engineer Nabil Al -Juhani, Vice President of Contract Administration at the Saudi Water Stections Company “SWPCs”.

Engineer Nabil Al -Juhani said that the Saudi water partnership company, during the first decade of its establishment, was able to implement three desalination plants with a total production capacity of three million cubic meters per day, and currently runs more than nine projects that produce about four million cubic meters per day, as well as additional projects in the construction phase.

He added that the Kingdom has made tangible progress in reducing the intensity of energy consumption in desalination operations, as it moved from the thermal desalination, which was consuming 16 kW/hour per cubic meter, to more efficient techniques with consumption not exceeding 3 kWh, while one of the modern projects recorded a low consumption of 2.5 kW/hour per cubic meter.

He explained that it is a strategic achievement to integrate solar energy by 20% within the operations, with a total production capacity of 60 megawatts, which represents a qualitative shift in the path of the shift towards sustainability.

He stressed that the empowerment of innovation requires a comprehensive financial model based on effective partnerships between financing institutions and public and private agencies, to ensure the expansion of the use of low -cost energy sources and emissions.

The session also discussed the integrated relationship between solar energy and water, noting that one of the countries of the region is currently working on developing a 1 GB of photovoltaic power station that works around the clock using batteries, which would cause a radical transformation in the desalination sector, by enabling stations to expand solar fields to provide water throughout the day.

In a related context, the importance of exploring alternative energy sources, such as the thermal thermal energy, was discussed to support desalination techniques, whether thermal or membranes.

The session dealt with the technical improvements in the sector during the past decade, including reducing energy consumption from 4 to less than 3 kWh per cubic meter, and total dependence on solar energy during the day in some stations in the Sultanate of Oman. The use of chemicals has been reduced and digital systems are integrated to monitor the performance of the membranes.

In an advanced presentation, the participants reviewed a decentralized solution to desalination of water that does not depend on fossil fuels and achieve net zero emissions of global warming gases, relying on solar energy or other renewable sources, and this platform is characterized by its lack of use of membranes or chemicals, and does not produce concentrated solutions, but rather aims to achieve zero liquid emptying, allowing mineral extraction and reuse.

The speakers touched on the economic capabilities inherent in the concentrated sweetener, which was previously considered a toxic waste, stressing that the carbonity technique using concentrated sweetener allows the extraction of magnesium and the detention of carbon dioxide, where each ton of the solution can be obtained 13 kg of magnesium carbonate, and the detention of 6 kg of carbon dioxide in the Middle East region, which is what is It is a practical application of the concept of the circular economy, by enabling industries to benefit financially to treat the solution and extract minerals and energy without additional burdens.