Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) Gov. Abdulrahman Al-Ibrahim outlined Saudi Arabia’s achievements in the field of water desalination and development of renewable energy sources.
“We generate18 percent of the world’s total production of desalinated water daily for domestic use,” he said during a conference on renewable energy and water desalination at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel.
In the next two years, the SWCC is expected to produce over 5 million cubic meters per day.
Al-Ibrahim was speaking to an eight-member German delegation in the photovoltaic and water desalination sectors.
He said that there were 28 plants currently under construction with the Ras Al-Khair plant being the world’s largest desalination plant.
“The Yanbu plant, expected to be completed in two years, and the Ras Al-Khair plant will generate over one million cubic meters daily. The SWCC has also commissioned the Jeddah reverse osmosis plant to produce 240,000 cubic meters of water per day,” he said.
He said that the transportation of fuel to the plants contributed to the high cost of water production in the Kingdom, especially in remote areas such as the Farasan Island near Jazan.
Consequently, the SWCC is now planning to use renewable energy sources such as the photovoltaic (PV), solar energy and concentrated solar panels (CSP).
Abdulrahman Al-Ibrahim mentioned that with the cooperation of King Abdullah City for Science and Technology (KACST) the SWCC’s plant in Khafji would produce 30,000 cubic meters daily using photovoltaic energy and reverse osmosis.
Andreas Hergenroether, delegate of the German Industry and Commerce in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, also spoke on the occasion. Welcoming the eight-member German delegation, Saudi businessmen and guests, he underscored the close collaboration between the Kingdom and Germany in various economic sectors.
“The ‘Renewables Made in Germany’ program organizes visits of German business executives to all parts of the globe where they showcase their expertise, products and present opportunities for cooperation,” he said.
Speakers included Christian Grundner, consultant German Ministry of Economics and Technology (Renewable Energies in Germany at a Glance); Dr. Maher Alodan of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (The Kingdom’s roadmap toward a diversified electricity market); Dr. Harry Wirth of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy System (Quality assurance for photovoltaic modules and power plants) and Massimo Moser of the German Aerospace Center (Solar desalination with CSP: Technologies and potentials).
SWCC highlights projects on water desalination, renewable energy
