King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology announced Sunday the launch of national plans for solar energy-based saline water desalination production. The announcement was made at a press conference revealing details of the move to produce, through the use of nanoparticle technology developed by King Abdul Aziz City and IBM at a joint nano-research center, cost-effective potable water and electricity. The plan aims to produce water at a cost of SR1 to SR1.5 compared to the current cost of SR2.5 to SR5.5, with the cost of producing electricity through developed solar cells less than 30 halalas per kilowatt/hour. The initiative is taking place in three phases. The first, which began at the beginning of this year, sees the construction of a solar-powered desalination station with a production capacity of 30,000 cubic meters per day to provide water for the 100,000-strong population of Al-Khafji. The station is scheduled to be finished in three years. A second station, whose location has yet to be decided, will have a capacity ten times greater than the Al-Khafji station, producing 300,000 cubic meters of water per day. Work on the second station will start upon the completion of the first, and will also take three years to complete. The first two stations will be followed by an unspecified number of similar facilities at various as yet undisclosed locations around the Kingdom. Works on all the projects have been assigned to a consortium in the Kingdom. The projects, in addition to King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, also involve the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Water and Electricity, Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Saline Water Conversion Corporation. “This is a significant advance in scientific research related to water production at the least possible expense,” the conference was told. “King Abdul Aziz City has made great efforts over the past 30 years to develop solar energy technology and technologies with a wide commercial range to provide water.” The Kingdom, it was noted, enjoys high sun energy exposure throughout the year, 2,000 kilowatts per square meter, and that water desalination is the Kingdom's most strategic option for potable water, producing over 18 percent of the world's production. The energy used in desalination is the most expensive part of the process, while the King Abdul Aziz City and IBM joint research center aims to reduce desalination stations' dependence on oil and gas for energy. The press conference was attended by: Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf; Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Husayyen; President of King Abdul Aziz City Muhammad Al-Suwayyel; Vice President of the City for Research Institutes Prince Turki Bin Saud Bin Muhammad Aal Saud; Secretary General of the Public Investment Fund Mansour Al-Mayman; Vice President of the City for Scientific Research Support Abdullah Al-Rushaid, and Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry for Industry Affairs Khaled Al-Sulaiman.
