Desalination & Reuse Handbook - Flipbook - Page 27
DESALINATION MARKET PROFILE
Feedwater
Despite falling between 2016 and 2017, seawater desalination is about to enter its most active period since the late 2000s as construction
plans in the Middle East begin to gather momentum, especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. 1.9 million m3/d of
seawater capacity was contracted in the first half of 2018, up 34% on the same in 2017, and there remains well over 1 million m3/d of
new capacity under procurement that may reach financial close by the end of the year. The largest seawater award in the 31st desalination
inventory (July 2017–June 2018) is the long-delayed financial close of a 378,000 m3/d seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) project in
Rosarito, Mexico, followed by three extra-large awards in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Global contracted capacity for brackish water desalination fell by 19% year-on-year as the flurry of medium-scale industrial brackish
procurement seen in China in 2016 did not continue into 2017. Contracted brackish water desalination in the USA in 2017 totalled
205,600 m3/d – its highest level since 2012 and a 26% increase on 2016. Key brackish project awards in the 31st inventory are a
150,000 m3/d water treatment plant (WTP) using nanofiltration technology in Tabouk, Saudi Arabia, a 36,000 m3/d brackish water
reverse osmosis (BWRO) plant contracted by Kawasaki in Turkmenistan, and 43,000 m3/d in BWRO capacity split between six mining
projects in Australia. In the USA, the profile of brackish plants has moved towards fewer and larger installations, with a fairly even split
between municipal and industrial plants.
Desalination of lower-concentration feeds (wastewater and low-concentration surface water) made up almost 25% of total capacity in
2017, compared to around 15% the previous year. With a few notable exceptions, such as the 100,000 m3/d Zhangjiagang WTP in
Jiangsu Province, China, the majority of this capacity is made up of large wastewater treatment projects in China and India.
Annual
contracted capacity by feedwater type, 2000–2018
6
Seawater
5
Capacity (million m3/d)
Brackish water
Other
4
3
2
1
0
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018*
Source: GWI DesalData / IDA
*Values through June 2018
Plant size and feedwater distribution
The size of the seawater desalination market is largely dependent on extra-large utility projects, mostly in the Gulf region. At the
height of the GCC desalination build-out in the late 2000s, these projects alone accounted for around half of the global total, and have
consistently made up around a third of global contracted seawater and brackish water capacity ever since. The scale of projects in the
Gulf means that their timing has a significant effect on total market size, meaning that growth in seawater desalination in the Americas
and Asia-Pacific did not entirely make up for a reduction in GCC project awards in the second half of 2017 or the first half of 2018.
Meanwhile, the market size for projects at lower capacity levels is smaller but less volatile. The proportional difference between highs
and lows of even large-scale projects of 10,000–50,000 m3/d is markedly lower than those above 50,000 m3/d. Projects below
10,000 m3/d have more evenly distributed municipal and utility client bases and lower capital costs, making for a more stable demand
profile throughout the highs and lows of the top-level desalination market.
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