A Look at Existing and Future Desalination Markets in the Persian Gulf and MENA Region

Showing an annual growth rate of 9% and with a total investment of USD 88 billion the desalination market was one of the most lucrative markets in the years 2010 to 2016. The accelerated growth of above 60% of the world’s total desalination capacity underlines not only the involvement of the seas in supplying the potable water for populated seashores but also the gradual drop in the quality of inland waters. The predicted increase in global temperature and the reduced level of rainfalls in the Horizon 2050 vision for the twenty North African and West Asian countries (MENA region) signifies that new water resources in this sensitive area will be rarer and their access costlier, thus forcing the governments towards desalination. On the global scale, 38 percent of the total volume of water produced daily in the world (65.2 MCM) belongs to the MENA region, while the desalination capacity created in the southern coasts of the Persian Gulf exceeds the 10 MCM/day mark. The basic concepts of the different desalination processes are founded upon the use of energy, and any analysis, strategies, and visions for desalination without due consideration for energy policies would be meaningless and incomplete. The most important environmental issue with these installations is the brine, which is categorized as industrial effluent, and its extensive discharge to the gulfs and coral reefs which threaten the marine ecosystem and leads to changes in species. In recent years, through development and improvement of the processes, the cost of desalinating each cubic meter of water has been reduced to half a Dollar, whereas its market price is still between 1 and 2 Dollars. The desalination capacity in Iran is more than 450,000 m3/day; 65% of which is related to the production of drinking water. This amount is less than 2% of the global capacity for desalination.