Arnaud Delamare On Desalination Capacity In Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is planning a major expansion of its desalination capacity — turning seawater or brackish water into fresh water — with a target of increasing capacity by more than 40% by 2030. This expansion is attracting private companies and investors, because many projects are delivered as public-private partnerships with long-term government contracts.

Arnaud Delamare, Partner in the Energy and Natural Resources practice, pointed to one of the biggest practical challenges: getting desalinated water from the coast to inland cities, such as Riyadh, which requires large-scale transport infrastructure. “It's a huge distance and these are massive pipelines. We’re not talking about the small pipelines you would typically find in a city," said Arnaud. "We’re talking about high pressure, big pumps.”

Arnaud also addressed the significant amount of energy desalination requires, noting that while efforts are underway to shift toward renewable power, the transition will not be immediate. He added, "There's already an effort to move toward renewables, but it will take time."

Read the full article here (paywall).