Desalination has continued to play a significant role in Oman’s potable water supply, coming far from the first desalination plant commissioned in 1976, its infrastructure has expanded exponentially to meet growing demands. Today, the Sultanate of Oman produces approximately 400 million cubic metres of desalinated water (as of 2022) — a significant increase from 279.6 million cubic metres in 2016 — to meet about 86 per cent of the country’s water needs. Oman is effectively the second largest player in the GCC in desalinated water usage.
The Middle East accounts for 90 per cent of the world’s thermal energy used in desalination and as the demand for water continues to rise due to population growth, the effects of climate change alongside growing energy consumption of desalination raises concerns about its environmental and economic sustainability. To address these challenges, increasingly efficient and sustainable desalination technologies continue to be explored and implemented.
This is evident in Oman’s desalination journey, reducing the number of its plants from 94 (47 seawater and 47 brackish water facilities) to 13 plants, whilst increasing its capacity to improve energy consumption and efficiency.
Today, Oman’s 13 contracted desalination plants collectively produce over 1.15 million cubic metres of water daily — a significant shift from the 94 plants in 2011 that produced a total of 196 million cubic metres annually.
The reduction in the number of plants, paired with the increase in production capacity reflects Oman’s shift towards more efficient desalination facilities.
The Barka IV plant, for example, commenced operations in 2018, to produce up to 281,000 cubic metres of water daily; accounting for approximately 23 per cent of Oman’s water supply and serving nearly one-third of Muscat’s population. The use of advanced reverse osmosis technology has helped achieve record low energy consumption with the use of an ultra-modern energy recovery process. The plant increased Oman’s national water capacity by 20 per cent and is projected to grow by around 6 per cent per year.
The Ghubrah III desalination plant, planned to commence production in the first quarter of 2027, is expected to be the Sultanate of Oman’s largest desalination plant. It is equipped with over 23,000 units of SW 440 GR G2 seawater reverse osmosis membranes for a capacity of up to 315,000 cubic metres per day.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that the Middle East’s energy demand for desalination will double by 2030, reflecting an increasing dependence on this energy-intensive technology to sustain water supplies in one of the world’s driest regions.
Concerns of these growing energy demands are also addressed with the potential of solar powered desalination plants, as explored in Sultanate of Oman and Saudi Arabia. While underway, scaling these solutions require substantial investment and technological innovation.
For example, November 2023 saw Oman inaugurate its largest solar photovoltaic (PV) system dedicated to a desalination plant at the Sharqiyah Desalination Plant in Sur. A 17-megawatt peak (MWp) solar farm generates over 32,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of green electricity annually to cover 100 per cent of the plant’s daytime energy consumption.
Balance is key as the Sultanate of Oman steps forward with investments in advanced desalination technologies; effectively addressing the conflicting challenges of growing water demands alongside energy consumption in a way that not only ensures reliable water supply, but also aligns with our global sustainability goals.
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