JEDDAH: The global desalination market has shown an upward trend over recent years. The global cumulative contracted capacity has grown from 46.6 million cubic meters per day (m³/day) in 2005 to 67.3 million m³/day in 2009, at a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6 percent, GBI Research said in its latest study Thursday. The new report titled "Desalination Market to 2020 - Technology Driven Cost Reduction in Membrane Based Processes set to Drive Sustainability Investments into the Market" forecast that the global cumulative contracted capacity of the market will grow at a CAGR of 10.5 percent during the forecast period 2010-2020 to reach 195.8 million m³/day in 2020. High population growth, increasing water shortages, limited freshwater supplies, rapid urbanization, industrial expansion, growing tourist industries and increasing saltwater intrusion into the aquifers are the major factors driving the need for increase in the global desalination capacity. The study noted that more than half of the global desalination capacity is located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as of 2009. Increasing water shortages, increasing urbanization and industrialization and high population growth rates in various countries of MENA region such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Qatar and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) are the main factors for the increasing adaptation of desalination as an option for producing fresh water, the report said. Moreover, desalination is gaining wide acceptance in Asia-Pacific countries like China, India and Australia, where a large cross-section of the population live in coastal regions with limited fresh water resources, it added. Desalination is also gaining ground in the North American region. Almost all the states of the US have desalination plants and most of them are designed specifically for industrial uses. In Europe, desalination is primarily used for municipal purposes, but the industrial applications of desalinated water are now also increasing. Spain is among the top five countries for desalination in the world. Growing tourism industry in Europe particularly in Spain is also propelling the need for increasing the desalination capacity.
