Global Water Challenges: Can Desalination Lead the Way?

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Desalination, a process eliminating salt and other contaminants from saline water, making it fit for human consumption or irrigation, has been garnering active interest from investors in recent years. In regions across the globe, water desalination has become a strategic choice to preserve precious freshwater resources, particularly in the realms of agriculture and manufacturing.

Factors like rising populations, rising temperatures, natural calamities and overuse of water pose potential hurdles for governments to enable basic utilities, especially in freshwater-deprived regions. As reported by the World Economic Forum, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), the world's most water-scarce region, is expected to reach a population of 3.4 billion people by 2050.

Desalination plants offer numerous benefits like reliable availability of potable water, increased water supply for the agricultural industry, decreased need for re-routing water in times of need, economic stability for municipalities, and reduced energy costs and environmental impact concerning water distribution. Brine, the byproduct of desalination, is also used extensively in food and beverages for preserving and flavoring food like pickles, olives, and certain types of cured meats.

Industrial Info is tracking 201 active capital-spending projects worldwide, worth US$36.43 billion, geared at constructing water desalination units to produce treated water. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for a list of detailed project reports.

The Oil & Gas Terminals, Oil & Gas Production, Petroleum Refining, Chemical Processing, Metals & Minerals, Pulp, Paper & Wood and Food & Beverage industries account for the overall spending; 64% of it is being driven by the Food & Beverage Industry alone, with a spend of US$23.40 billion, a majority of which is concentrated toward producing potable water for consumption. In other industries, desalination plants are majorly being used to supply process water for industries.

By world region, Asia is driving the most spending, with US$21.75 billion across 80 projects. Country-wise, the top three countries are Saudi Arabia, India and Chile with an investment of US$10 billion, US$6.75 billion and US$6.5 billion, respectively. Some of the other countries driving significant spending are Australia, United Arab Emirates, U.S., South Africa, Algeria, Jordan, Israel, Tunisia, Namibia, Iran and Peru.

The top three biggest spenders in the market are the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Finance & Economy, ACME Group (Haryana, India) and ENGIE SA (La Defense, France), with a cumulative spending of US$11.54 billion. As the leading investor, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Finance & Economy has come up with 10 projects worth US$6.12 billion. This series of grassroot projects is geared at constructing and installing reverse osmosis seawater desalination plants in various regions of Saudi Arabia, such as Rayyis, Al Baha, Tabuk, Rabigh, Jizan, Ash Shuqaiq and Jubail, to produce an overall capacity of 3,160,000 cubic meters of treated water a day for drinking purposes.

About 61% of the total projects are in the planning phase, 18% are in the engineering phase and 21% are under construction. A majority of these projects are expected to become operational between 2024 and 2030.

Despite the many benefits of desalination plants, the process is highly energy intensive and expensive, making these plants less prolific in regions that do not have too acute of a water crisis. Additionally, while use-cases exist for the brine being produced as a part of the process, disposal of excess brine remains a concern considering it is laced with toxic chemicals.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).