Desalination, wastewater treatment & digitisation key mid-east water sector growth opportunities

Desalination, wastewater treatment & digitisation key mid-east water sector growth opportunities

Abu Dhabi, UAE: A new report commissioned by the World Future Energy Summit - the leading business event for future energy and sustainability which runs in Abu Dhabi this month – has highlighted desalination, wastewater treatment and digitisation as key growth opportunities for the Middle East’s water sector. And the report, produced for World Future Energy Summit by business consultancy Frost & Sullivan, has identified Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey as water sector growth hotspots.

The report says that despite the Middle East and Africa being the world’s desalination leader, with 48% of global operational capacity, there is still room for growth as the region battles with insufficient groundwater, low per capita water availability and growing water requirements. The report says the region will increasingly ditch high energy consuming thermal desalination technologies in favour of reverse-osmosis-based (RO) plants powered by renewables, including solar.

A high potential opportunity in the wastewater sector is identified as zero liquid discharge (ZLD) solutions, which enable the recovery of usable water and treated contaminants from wastewater before reducing it to solid waste without any harmful environmental impact. The report forecasts compound annual growth of 8% in the Middle East’s ZLD market to 2025, by when it