Iran's Energy Ministry Reports on 103 Desalination Projects across Country Since 2005

According to the statistics released by the Iranian Ministry of Energy, 103 water desalination projects have been put into operation since 2005 or are being implemented in different provinces across the country including Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Bushehr, Khuzestan, Ilam, Yazd, Mazandaran, Gilan, Golestan, Semnan, Alborz, Isfahan, Kerman, and Markazi.

These projects cover a population of more than 3,747,000 people, and so far $900 million have been invested in this field, the energy ministry’s report said.

On the international stage, desalination demand is projected to expand rapidly. The global demand is projected to grow by 9% per year between 2010 and 2016, with a cumulative investment of about $88 billion.

In the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), water demand is expected to increase from 9 billion m3 in 2010 up to 13.3 billion m3 in 2030 while groundwater resources are projected to decrease. As a consequence, desalination capacity in the MENA region is expected to grow quickly from 21 million m3/d in 2007 to nearly 110 million m3/d by 2030, of which 70% is in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria and Libya.

As esalination requires a considerable amount of energy, water production in MENA countries will contribute significantly to increase the energy use. The total electricity demand for desalination in the MENA region is expected to rise to some 122 TWh by 2030, thus tripling compared with the 2007 level.

Desalination demand is also expected to grow in Asia and the Caribbean region. China and India are high potential markets for desalination due to growing population and economies, and water shortage. The need for desalination grows much faster than the economy as a whole, and the associated energy need is projected to increase accordingly.

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