Saline Water Conversion Corporation

Last updated
The Saudi Water Authority
Agency overview
Formed1974
Website https://swa.gov.sa/en

The Saudi Water Authority (SWA) is a Saudi Arabian government authority responsible for regulating and monitoring water sector business and services to enhance water sustainability across the Kingdom. [1]

Contents

The Saudi Water Authority (SWA) was formerly the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) until March 2024, when a session of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, headed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, agreed to change the name to the Saudi Water Authority (SWA), officially approving its objectives and roles as the Kingdom’s regulatory authority for the water sector. This was formally announced on 07 May 2024. [2]

SWA has a supervisory and strategic role in regulating and overseeing the water sector of Saudi Arabia and is also responsible for developing new policies, strategies, programs, and initiatives, instituting necessary control and requirements for water sector licenses related to developing human capacity, developing technical and engineering standards for the water industry, and ensuring its alignment with the standing Saudi benchmarks for local content and sustainability. [3]

Prior to its name and mandate change, SWA was known as Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), a government corporation that operated desalination plants and power stations in Saudi Arabia. SWCC was established in Saudi Arabia in 1974 as "Water Desalination for Salty". [4]

History

SWA (SWCC) originated from Water Desalination for Salty office in the Ministry of Agriculture and Water, established in 1966 to enhance water security in the Kingdom and provide water for the needs of the population and the agricultural sector, as Saudi Arabia's climate is one of the harshest and driest in the world. [5] [6] [7] [8]

t was led by Prince Muhammad Al-Faisal, who held expertise in seawater technology. [9]

Water Desalination for Salty was transformed into the Agency for Desalination Affairs within the Ministry of Agriculture and Water in 1972. [10]

On September 6, 1974, the Council of Ministers established an independent water desalination corporation, administratively affiliated with the Minister of Agriculture and Water, and appointed its head by royal order. It primarily focused on improving the natural water resources by desalinating saline water in regions of the Kingdom where natural resources were insufficient to meet their needs, utilising water resources of the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf. SWCC was given the authority to produce electrical energy independently when necessary. [11]

In the early stages, SWCC adopted Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) distillation as the primary technology, later switching to Multi-Effect Distillation (MED). After that, SWCC switched to Reverse Osmosis (RO), and as of 2024, RO is the primary technology used by SWCC in its desalination plants. [12]

In its early years, the SWCC focused on building its first desalination plants. The first plant was built in the city of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast. Using MSF distillation, the plant began producing desalinated water for the city's residents. SWCC invested in research and development and collaborated with international partners and academic institutions to improve the efficiency of its desalination processes, as the initial desalination process was energy-intensive and produced a significant amount of brine, a highly concentrated saline solution that had to be disposed of carefully to avoid environmental harm. [13] [12] [14] [15]

In 1978, SWCC launched the operation of reverse osmosis plants in Jeddah. [16] The company also assumed full responsibility for operating and maintaining its plants and pipelines. [17]

In 1983, SWCC commissioned the Jubail-Riyadh water transmission system. [18] [19]

In 2008, the company started the operation of barges, launching the first floating system for desalinated water production. [20]

In 2015, the company operationalised the Jubail system phase two with a production capacity of approximately one million m³/day. For several years, it was the largest water desalination system in the world. Later, the Ras Al-Khair plant was inaugurated, securing a Guinness certificate as the world's largest dual-purpose water desalination and power production plant. [21] [22]  

In 2021, Saline Water Conversion Corporation set a new Guinness World Record title for the lowest energy consumption for a water desalination plant with 2.27 kW/h per cubic meter of desalinated water. [23]

In 2022, SWCC launched the world's largest floating desalination plant. [24] [25] In 2023, SWCC became the largest producer by transferring operating tasks and specialisations for 139 dam and well plants, achieving a daily freshwater output of 11.5 million cubic meters. [26]

In 2024, The Saudi Water Authority (formerly SWCC) held 9 Guinness World Records [27] [28] [29] : Largest water desalination company [26] , Largest network of water pipelines [30] , Largest drinking water storage tank [31] , Largest production capacity of a water desalination network [32] , Lowest energy consumption for a water desalination plant [33] , Largest water desalination plant (capacity) [34] , Largest drinking water storage tank network [35] , Largest multi-effect distillation water desalination plant (capacity) [36] , and Largest drinking water storage facility. [37]

Operations

Production

60% of the Kingdom’s water comes from desalination, while 30% is sourced from non-renewable groundwater and only 10% from surface water located in the south-west of the country. The Saudi Water Authority (SWA) has a production capacity of 7.5 million cubic metres per day. It aims to produce 11.5 million cubic metres per day, leveraging seawater and underground water. [38]  

It holds the top spot in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, accounting for 22% of the world’s global production. SWA operates and monitors 33 desalination plants and over 139 purification plants in the country. The largest is located on the east coast of Jubail. The company has 14 transmission systems and 4,000 km (2,500 mi) of pipelines. [39]

Workforce

The SWCC workforce employs 9,100 people, 98% of whom are local Saudi citizens. The company’s high rate of local Saudi citizens workforce is in line with the Crown Prince’s Vision 2030 localisation agenda, which encourages firms to train and hire locals.

Engineering

SWA operates its desalination plants at 99.2% of their design capacity by maintaining existing plants and investing in new technology. This has been achieved as part of its plans to replace older assets and strengthen the infrastructure for desalinated water production across the Kingdom, with an availability coefficient of 99.6% for its desalination plants. [40] [41]

In the early stages, SWA adopted Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) distillation as the primary desalination technology, miming the natural process of evaporation and condensation, using heat to evaporate water and then condensing it to produce fresh water. Later, the company switched to Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) due to the MSF energy-intensiveness and extensive maintenance required as a result of the scaling and corrosion caused by the high salt content of seawater. Like MSF, MED used heat to evaporate and condense water but was more efficient because it used the steam produced in one effect to heat the next, creating a cascade of multiple effects. MED showed improvement over MSF in terms of energy efficiency but still suffered from scale buildup and corrosion issues. After that, SWA switched to Reverse Osmosis (RO), which uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate salt and other impurities from seawater. RO is less energy-intensive than MSF and MED and does not suffer from the same scaling and corrosion issues. It allowed SWA to increase its production capacity while reducing energy consumption and operational costs. RO is the primary technology used by SWA in its desalination plants. [42]

Public-private partnership

Water is provided at a low price to Saudi residential users. The government purchases water from private operators at high prices and then provides it to its citizenry at a heavily subsidised price. The local agriculture sector is the country’s highest water consumer, and it contributes to the depletion of fossil aquifers. This level of investment in water per capita is among the highest in the world due to the high cost of desalination. The Crown Prince’s Vision 2030 outlined the Kingdom’s aim to increase the role of private operators in the desalination industry. The Kingdom aims to raise US$200 billion in investment (not including Saudi Aramco’s IPO) through private-public partnerships and privatisation. [43] [44] [45]

Capital projects

SWA’s projects are worth $120 billion and are buoyed by its strong government support. The portfolio includes over 80 projects, including developing production systems, upgrading and replacing ageing infrastructure, and creating new transmission systems and water tanks. [46]

Conservation

While desalination ensures that over 97% of the local population has access to potable water https://ussaudi.org/water-in-saudi-arabia-desalination-wastewater-and-privatization/ , social awareness around water conservation has traditionally been low in the kingdom. The growing population will require additional water resources, with output required to almost double in 2024 from current rates in order to meet demand. [47] SWA has also been active in promoting water conservation and has launched awareness campaigns to educate the public about the importance of water conservation.

Environmental challenges

Since desalination is a high-intensity operation, SWA focuses on reducing its carbon emissions at existing plants from 60 to 37 million tonnes by 2025, nearly halving its emissions. SWA is also committed to planting 5 million trees by 2030. It also aims to replace the use of liquid fuel in its plants with alternative low-emission energy sources, which will reduce the company’s emissions by 10.8 million tonnes by 2024. It sources 20% of its desalination energy consumption from renewable sources in its new desalination plants. [48] [47] [49]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desalination</span> Removal of salts from water

Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltwater is desalinated to produce water suitable for human consumption or irrigation. The by-product of the desalination process is brine. Desalination is used on many seagoing ships and submarines. Most of the modern interest in desalination is focused on cost-effective provision of fresh water for human use. Along with recycled wastewater, it is one of the few rainfall-independent water resources.

Geothermal desalination refers to the process of using geothermal energy to power the process of converting salt water to fresh water. The process is considered economically efficient, and while overall environmental impact is uncertain, it has potential to be more environmentally friendly compared to conventional desalination options. Geothermal desalination plants have already been successful in various regions, and there is potential for further development to allow the process to be used in an increased number of water scarce regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jubail</span> City in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Jubail is a city in the Eastern province on the Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, with a total population of 474,679 as of 2022. It is home to the largest industrial city in the world. It is also home to the Middle East's largest and world's fourth largest petrochemical company SABIC. It has the world's largest IWPP producing 2743.6 MW of electricity and 800,000 m3 of water daily. Jubail comprises the Old Town of Al Jubail, which was a small fishing village until 1975, and the Industrial Area. Jubail Industrial City is the largest civil engineering project in the world today.

Multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) is a water desalination process that distills sea water by flashing a portion of the water into steam in multiple stages of what are essentially countercurrent heat exchangers. Current MSF facilities may have as many as 30 stages.

Solar desalination is a desalination technique powered by solar energy. The two common methods are direct (thermal) and indirect (photovoltaic).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reverse osmosis plant</span> Type of water purification plant

A reverse osmosis plant is a manufacturing plant where the process of reverse osmosis takes place. Reverse osmosis is a common process to purify or desalinate contaminated water by forcing water through a membrane. Water produced by reverse osmosis may be used for a variety of purposes, including desalination, wastewater treatment, concentration of contaminants, and the reclamation of dissolved minerals. An average modern reverse osmosis plant needs six kilowatt-hours of electricity to desalinate one cubic metre of water. The process also results in an amount of salty briny waste. The challenge for these plants is to find ways to reduce energy consumption, use sustainable energy sources, improve the process of desalination and to innovate in the area of waste management to deal with the waste. Self-contained water treatment plants using reverse osmosis, called reverse osmosis water purification units, are normally used in a military context.

A solar-powered desalination unit produces potable water from saline water through direct or indirect methods of desalination powered by sunlight. Solar energy is the most promising renewable energy source due to its ability to drive the more popular thermal desalination systems directly through solar collectors and to drive physical and chemical desalination systems indirectly through photovoltaic cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water supply and sanitation in Saudi Arabia</span>

Water supply and sanitation in Saudi Arabia is characterized by challenges and achievements. One of the main challenges is water scarcity. In order to overcome water scarcity, substantial investments have been undertaken in seawater desalination, water distribution, sewerage and wastewater treatment. Today about 50% of drinking water comes from desalination, 40% from the mining of non-renewable groundwater and only 10% from surface water in the mountainous southwest of the country. The capital Riyadh, located in the heart of the country, is supplied with desalinated water pumped from the Persian Gulf over a distance of 467 km. Water is provided almost for free to residential users. Despite improvements, service quality remains poor, for example in terms of continuity of supply. Another challenge is weak institutional capacity and governance, reflecting general characteristics of the public sector in Saudi Arabia. Among the achievements is a significant increases in desalination, and in access to water, the expansion of wastewater treatment, as well as the use of treated effluent for the irrigation of urban green spaces, and for agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahri (company)</span>

Bahri, formerly known as the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, is a transportation and logistics company, positioned as the national shipping carrier of Saudi Arabia.

Nathaniel Kern, also known as Nat Kern, is President of Foreign Reports Inc., a consulting firm founded in 1956 to provide political reporting and analysis for the oil industry. He has been with the firm since 1972, becoming Vice President in 1975 and President in 1990. His company advises energy companies, governments, and financial institutions on world energy issues, with a specialization on the Middle East.

The Shoaiba power and desalination plant is an oil-fired, combined cycle gas turbine power and desalination complex in Saudi Arabia on the coast of Red Sea, about 120 kilometres (75 mi) south of Jeddah. It is one of the world's largest fossil fuel power plants, and the world's third largest integrated water and power plant.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from other substances. RO applies pressure to overcome osmotic pressure that favors even distributions. RO can remove dissolved or suspended chemical species as well as biological substances, and is used in industrial processes and the production of potable water. RO retains the solute on the pressurized side of the membrane and the purified solvent passes to the other side. It relies on the relative sizes of the various molecules to decide what passes through. "Selective" membranes reject large molecules, while accepting smaller molecules.

Water supply and sanitation in Israel are intricately linked to the historical development of Israel. Because rain falls only in the winter, and largely in the northern part of the country, irrigation and water engineering are considered vital to the country's economic survival and growth. Large scale projects to desalinate seawater, direct water from rivers and reservoirs in the north, make optimal use of groundwater, and reclaim flood overflow and sewage have been undertaken. Among them is the National Water Carrier, carrying water from the country's biggest freshwater lake, the Sea of Galilee, to the northern part of the Negev desert through channels, pipes and tunnels. Israel's water demand today outstrips available conventional water resources. Thus, in an average year, Israel relies for about half of its water supply on unconventional water resources, including reclaimed water and desalination. A particularly long drought in 1998–2002 had prompted the government to promote large-scale seawater desalination. In 2022, 85% of the country's drinkable water was produced through desalination of saltwater and brackish water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seawater desalination in Australia</span>

Australia is the driest habitable continent on Earth and its installed desalination capacity has been increasing. Until a few decades ago, Australia met its demands for water by drawing freshwater from dams and water catchments. As a result of the water supply crisis during the severe 1997–2009 drought, state governments began building desalination plants that purify seawater using reverse osmosis technology. Approximately one percent of the world's drinkable water originates from desalination plants.

The three cities of Abu Dhabi Emirate within the United Arab Emirates – the coastal city Abu Dhabi itself as well as the inland oases Al Ain and Liwa – receive their drinking water supply entirely from desalinated seawater.

The Minjur Desalination Plant is a reverse osmosis, water desalination plant at Kattupalli village, a northern suburb of Chennai, India, on the coast of the Bay of Bengal that supplies water to the city of Chennai. Built on a 60-acre site, it is the largest desalination plant in India. Construction works were carried out by the Indian company IVRCL and the Spanish company Abengoa, under the direction of the Project Manager Fernando Portillo Vallés and the Construction Manager Juan Ignacio Jiménez-Velasco, who returned to Europe after the inauguration of the plant to work on renewable energy projects. Originally scheduled to be operational by January 2009, the work on the plant was delayed due to Cyclone Nisha in October 2008, which damaged a portion of the completed marine works and destroyed the cofferdam meant for the installation of transition pipes. The trial runs were completed in June 2010 and the plant was opened in July 2010. Water from the plant will be utilised chiefly for industrial purposes such as the Ennore Port and North Chennai Thermal Power Station. However, during droughts, water from the plant will be supplied to the public, serving an estimated population of 1,000,000.

There are approximately 16,000 operational desalination plants, located across 177 countries, which generate an estimated 95 million m3/day of fresh water. Micro desalination plants operate near almost every natural gas or fracking facility in the United States. Furthermore, micro desalination facilities exist in textile, leather, food industries, etc.

The Ras Al-Khair Power and Desalination Plant is a power and desalination plant located in Ras Al-Khair on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. It is operated by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation of Saudi Arabia. The plant began operating in April 2014 and, as of January 2017, is the world's largest hybrid water desalination plant. The project includes a power plant capable of producing 2400 MW of electricity. In 2015, it won the Global Water Awards "Desalination Plant of the Year" award.

The low-temperature distillation (LTD) technology is the first implementation of the direct spray distillation (DSD) process. The first large-scale units are now in operation for desalination. The process was first developed by scientists at the University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland, focusing on low-temperature distillation in vacuum conditions, from 2000 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Plant</span> CCGT plant in the United Arab Emirates

The Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Plant is a gas- and oil-powered CCGT plant combined with a desalination plant southwest of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

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