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Page added on February 13, 2013
Saudi Arabia to Build Biggest Desalination Plant
Saline Water Conversion Corp. plans to build the world’s largest water desalination plant in Rabigh on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency reported, citing SWCC without disclosing costs.
The plant being developing by the Saudi government agency responsible for making seawater potable in the desert kingdom will have the capacity to pump 600,000 cubic meters (158 million gallons) of desalinated water a day. The project is expected to be completed by 2018, SPA said yesterday.
Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer with the Arab world’s largest economy, allocated $6.4 billion for water and sanitation projects in 2013 and is building power stations to cope with growing demand and desalination plants to supply drinking water to lessen the country’s reliance on oil exports.
State-owned National Water Co. plans to spend $66 billion on plants and upgrades over the next 10 years.
6 Comments on "Saudi Arabia to Build Biggest Desalination Plant"
BillT on Wed, 13th Feb 2013 1:37 pm
I doubt the Saudis have 10 years or even 6 to do anything. All of the rulers-in-line are in their 70s or 80s and when the first one dies, the infighting will stop development and probably oil exports in it’s tracks.
Kenz300 on Wed, 13th Feb 2013 2:57 pm
Population growth is expanding beyond what the Saudi’s can support. The water they use must be desalinated at a huge cost. The food they eat is all imported. Yet the population continues to grow.
Even the Saudi’s need to develop a plan to balance their population with their resources, food, water, energy and jobs. They are way out of balance with food and water. If they continue to subsidize the use of energy they will waste the one resources they do have.
The concept of sustainability has not sunk in yet.
DC on Wed, 13th Feb 2013 3:23 pm
Q/, citing SWCC without disclosing costs.
Of course they didnt! De-sal plants are hideously expensive to build, let alone operate. I believe the average is what, a billion dollars for a ‘standard’ one, and thats before cost overruns. And, S.A. runs ALL of its energy sucking de-sal plants with….oil of course.
Plantagenet on Wed, 13th Feb 2013 4:58 pm
Most of this water won’t be used for drinking—-KSA needs more fresh water so they can build more golf courses and have green grass, and so they can water the trees and plants they use to landscape their new freeways, and so they can have huge fountains and pools in their city centers, and so they can add swimming pools to their villas.
bobinget on Wed, 13th Feb 2013 9:13 pm
Rest easier lads. That Saudi desalinization plant is solar powered.
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Saudi+Desalination+plant+solar&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
BTW, Germany was actually generating TOO MUCH electricity because of a few ultra windy weeks.
Siemens/GE smart grids will someday be desalinizing sea water with all the spare capacity now being built.
Worried about storage? Why not produce hydrogen to power surface transportation with surplus solar, wind?
(the Hyd won’t care if it’s made only on sunny days).
Forget, for a sec about CC. If we keep polluting with coal, no one will be around to care if we go Venus.
BillT on Thu, 14th Feb 2013 2:21 am
Tech is not the answer. Tech will die along with the oil supply. It takes a lot of oil to make any techie toys. They do not have enough NET energy to make new replacements after other needs are met.