The GCC is leading the world in desalination with the UAE and Saudi Arabia being market leaders, according to data published ahead of the second edition of MENA Desalination Projects Conference which will take place on March 10, 11 in Abu Dhabi.

In Oman, desalination market has been expanding by 5 per cent per year. The country has a total of nine large desalination plants, plus 47 small plants all of which supply about 86 per cent of the country’s potable water.

GCC countries have the highest global water desalination capacity of 81 per cent, producing around 40 per cent of the total world water desalination. Saudi Arabia is responsible for about one-fifth of the global production and leads the world in the volume of desalinated water it produces which makes up 50 per cent of its water consumed. The country is the largest desalination market in the world producing around 4mn m3 of desalinated water per day, and approximately US$80bn is expected to be invested in new projects over the next 10 years.

(LINK).