Solar-Powered Seawater Desalination Project

The Solar-Powered Seawater Desalination Project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an initiative aimed at desalinating water and addressing the challenge of water scarcity by leveraging the abundant solar resources available in the country. It is one of the projects under Saudi Vision 2030. Its implementation began as part of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' initiative for seawater desalination using solar energy. The project was inaugurated by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, crown prince and prime minister, in 2018.

The Solar-Powered Seawater Desalination Project contributes to the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to rely on clean energy and reduce carbon emissions. It also supports the economy by decreasing costs resulting from redirecting natural energy for sale in global markets, thereby increasing revenue. The environmental impact is manifested in the significant reduction of carbon emissions resulting from desalination processes, cooling, air conditioning, and energy production.

The Solar-Powered Seawater Desalination Project consists of two sub-plants, one for desalination using reverse osmosis technology and the other for electricity production using solar photovoltaics.

The reverse osmosis plant uses techniques developed by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology for efficient and cost-effective desalination of water. The capacity of the desalination plant is sixty thousand m/day, with peak production of ninety thousand m/day. The solar power plant provides ten MW of daily electricity to operate the desalination plant.

The Kingdom, through the Solar-Powered Seawater Desalination Project using solar energy, seeks to achieve several objectives, including:

- Global leadership in the field of solar-powered desalination.

- Reducing the pressure on the Kingdom's natural oil resources.

- Lowering the cost of water per m.

- Contributing to improving the quality of life and reducing harmful emissions.

- Transferring and localizing advanced technologies for reverse osmosis membranes, concentrated cells, and dust-repellent surfaces.

Connected to the project of solar-powered seawater desalination are five sub-projects, which are:

- Pure desalination project, using multi-stage reverse osmosis techniques.

- Highly efficient concentrated photovoltaic cell project. 

- Smart meters and centralized electrical inverters project for power grid connection.

- Dust-repellent nano-surfaces project to protect solar panels' surfaces.

- A project to develop a manufacturing facility for solar cells and panels.

The Solar-Powered Seawater Desalination Project has achieved significant milestones since its inception. It has desalinated seven million m of seawater, reduced the cost of water desalination per m by 40 percent, increased the daily desalination capacity to ninety-thousand m, eliminated fourteen thousand t of harmful emissions, and saved 1.1 million barrels of oil. Additionally, the project has resulted in a 2.2 percent increase in population growth and reverse migration in al-Khafji Governorate.