Water Desalination: Why Egypt Needs It?
Updated 10/10/2023 8:00:00 AM
Egypt’s population, which reached 105.55 million as of October 8th, has been facing rising water scarcity, and the government is promoting water security by considering desalinated water as a nonconventional water resource. Due to climate change and the continuous increase in population and economic activities, whether agricultural or industrial, as well as the per capita share of water that has been decreasing, it has become important for Egypt to start developing water desalination. This comes as Egypt overlooks the Red Sea to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the north, which gives it access to seawater for desalination.
Water Desalination in Egypt
For years, Egypt has been facing the problem of water shortages several times throughout the year, even before the filling of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The shortage is exacerbated by the growing demand for water, whether for the growing population, agriculture, or industrial needs, faster than the sources of its supply are strengthening. Therefore, the country has been working on securing water supply via reusing water more than once after treating it, and increasing the use of renewable groundwater in the Nile valley and delta and non-renewable groundwater in the Egyptian deserts.
Egypt is approaching the water scarcity line with a share approaching 500 cubic meters per capita annually, which requires taking many measures to achieve principles of governance in management to deal with these challenges, Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sweilem stated in August during the follow-up session on the outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Water.
Therefore, the Egyptian government adopted a plan to secure water resources through desalination. Heba Salah, an economic expert and public policy analyst at the Egyptian Cabinet of Ministers’ Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), tells Arab Finance: "The Egyptian government has worked on exploring new water resource management techniques to improve efficiency, counteract pollution, and further add nonconventional water resources in order to narrow the gap between water supply and demand."
Desalination Plants in Egypt
The Egyptian government adopts a plan that aims to produce 2.8 million cubic meters per day of desalinated water from the sea by establishing the largest desalination plants in the entire Middle East region at a cost of EGP 50 billion.
This comes as Egypt prequalified 17 consortia for tendering for the development of several seawater desalination plants, which are set to be powered by renewable energy sources and established in different locations across the country, according to a statement released by The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) in May.
Moreover, the Egyptian government plans a bid round in December for around four desalination plants to be established on the North Coast, Director of the Ministry of Finance's public-private partnerships (PPP) unit Atter Hannoura told the media in September.
Desalination: Costs and Returns
Egypt's production of desalinated water in previous decades did not exceed 80,000 cubic meters per day. Now, the production capacity has reached 850,000 meters per day, with an aim to reach 6.4 million cubic meters per day, Deputy Minister of Housing for Infrastructure Sayed Ismail revealed in February 2022.
Omar Abdelrahman, Market Research and Business Development Specialist, tells Arab Finance: “The cost of establishing one desalination station is equal to four times the establishment of a regular water purification station. So, the main challenge for Egypt is to provide enough sources for financing those ambitious projects.”
In August 2022, TSFE announced the pre-qualification process to establish, develop, and operate seawater desalination plants with renewable energy as a way of decreasing fossil fuel emissions.
In terms of cost, "renewable energy-powered desalination helps to produce water at costs competitive with that of fossil-powered desalination plants while also eliminating greenhouse gas emissions," according to the Global Water Scarcity Atlas article on desalination powered by renewable energy.
There are two common types of seawater desalination; the first is plants that operate with reverse osmosis by pressuring seawater molecules to separate the water from salts and other minerals, but it is expensive, as the price of one cubic meter of production reaches two dollars due to its consumption of large amounts of electricity. The second method is the cheapest, through distillation, and does not affect the environment by interacting hydrogen and oxygen gases from the water together as fuel to heat seawater instead of fuel, according to an article published by Al-Ahram Gate in 2019.
Meanwhile, developing recent technologies and applications can help the country ensure a more cost-effective water desalination process. Salah explains that “the notable achievements of seawater desalination technology have changed the perceived cost of seawater desalination in Egypt in many applications from expensive to competitive. Moreover, the improvement in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) technologies has reduced power consumption during the desalination process.”
Water desalination can secure local demands and drive economic growth. Abdelrahman says: “Egypt annually needs 81 billion cubic meters of water, 55.5 billion of which are provided through the Nile River, and about 6 billion from desalination and wells. It suffers from a gap in the remaining quantities. This gap between consumption and total available water for use is hindering Egypt’s economic growth, so if Egypt can diversify its sources of obtaining needed water, this will help in achieving growth in different economic activities.”
This comes as water is indispensable for almost all economic activities, including agriculture, energy production, industry, and mining. Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) states that water is at the heart of sustainable development and is essential for socio-economic development, energy and food production, and the integrity of ecosystems. Therefore, diversifying water resources and increasing desalination are very important for Egypt’s economic development.
As Egypt is keen to diversify its water resources, seawater desalination presents a promising future. Despite its rather high cost, using renewable energy and recent technology can ensure cost-effective desalination that is in line with sustainable development. Accordingly, water desalination can be among the important drivers of economic growth.
By Sarah Samir
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