Desalinated water supply to reach 1.294 billion m3 in 2014, compared with earlier 1.366 billion m3 forecastJEDDAH: The three-day Saudi Water and Power Forum kicks off today (Sunday) to determine the future of power and water industry in Saudi Arabia. Themed “Sustainable Prosperity through Knowledge, Innovation and Cooperation”, the Forum, taking place at Hilton Jeddah, will tackle policies and strategies to cope with the changing market and achieve sustainable prosperity. This year, SWPF will address a vast array of topics including policies, projects & prospects for a sustainable future, initiatives to support innovation in the sector, realization of the potential of technology, renewable energy opportunities and solutions, energy conservation and demand management, water resource management, financial tools for technology development and consumer relations, among others. SWPF, as the largest gathering of water and power industry in Saudi Arabia, brings together both local and international industry luminaries to achieve knowledge, contacts and partnerships required for further development of the local industry. The Kingdom is one of the largest markets for power and water in the world. Keynote speakers in this year's Forum include, among others, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal Bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Makkah Region and Abdullah Al-Hussayen, Minister of Water & Electricity. Saudi Arabia is the third largest consumer of water per capita in the world, but has limited groundwater to tap. The Kingdom has been plagued by shortages in recent years, and with consumption rising on the back of a growing population and economic growth set to soar, the government has needed to act quickly to stave off potential disaster and civil unrest. Desalination forms the backbone of the government's water strategy. Some 30 desalination plants have already been built by the state, but these have barely been able to keep pace with rising demand. In the latest report on Saudi energy market, companiesandmarkets.com said Saturday it revised down its forecasts for water desalination capacity additions over coming years. “We now expect desalinated water to reach 1.159 billion m3 in 2010, down from 1.167 billion m3 in our previous forecast. By 2014, we envisage water desalination supply to reach 1.294 billion m3, compared with a previous forecast of 1.366 billion m3,” it said. The revision reflects slower than expected progress on key schemes, as well as the delays with the major new Ras Al-Zour IWPP scheme, which was to have been let on a privately financed basis, but is now being implemented as a state-backed scheme. In Q3, one of the largest water deals in the region was awarded. South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction won the EPC contract for Ras Al-Zour power and water scheme, in a deal worth $1.5 billion. The reverse osmosis/thermal hybrid desalination plant will boast a 226mn g/d capacity. Building on a master plan drawn up in 2002, some $6 billion a year has been committed by the government to bolster the water sector over the next two decades. This was regarded as too big a task for state-owned utilities alone, so for the first time in Saudi Arabian infrastructure outside the hydrocarbons sector the program involves massive input from the domestic and international private sector. Saudi Arabia's regulatory system for the power and water sectors was overhauled to make it more investor-friendly and to enable the creation of bodies such as the Water and Electricity Company (WEC) and the National Water Company (NWC) to manage the transition and provide state partners for investors.The main vehicles are independent power and water projects (IWPPs) in which the private sector can take stakes of up to 60 percent. Over $15 billion worth of IWPPs have been sanctioned since 2004.
