Jordan, which has long received a lion’s share of USAID for survival, and which receives $1.5 billion USD every year to help with water and basic needs, is one of the poorest countries and most water-scarce countries on Earth. In parts of Amman, the most unwalkable city on the planet, households still receive municipal water only once a week. You order a truck and a you pay $50 or so for the company to fill up your water tank. If you are lucky, you build 2 or 3 tanks so you can be sure about your next shower.

National renewable freshwater availability stands at well under 100 cubic meters per person annually, which is far below the international benchmark for “absolute scarcity.” And Jordan has started building itself as a greenhouse and agriculture center of the region.

Now Jordan is advancing one of the the largest infrastructure project in its history: the Aqaba–Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project. The plan links a massive Red Sea desalination plant to a 450-kilometer pipeline that will transport water north to the capital. An original plan over the years was the Red Dead Canal, a partnership with Israel. But after decades of inaction from both sides, they want to do it alone if they can pull off the billions in financing needed.

In 2025, the Jordanian government signed agreements with a consortium led by Meridiam and SUEZ, alongside VINCI Construction and Orascom Construction. Under a 30-year concession agreement, the consortium will design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the system before transferring it back to the Jordanian government. The total investment is estimated at approximately $6 billion USD.

What the Desalination Project Will Deliver

At full capacity, the system is expected to supply 300 million cubic meters of desalinated water per year, covering roughly one-third to 40% of Jordan’s drinking water demand.

The system includes:

• A large reverse osmosis desalination plant near Aqaba on the Red Sea
• A 300-mile conveyance pipeline to Amman
• High-capacity pumping stations lifting water more than 1,000 meters in elevation
• Expanded storage infrastructure in the Amman region

The plant’s projected output — about 800,000 to 850,000 cubic meters per day — would make it one of the largest seawater reverse osmosis facilities in the world. Saudi Arabia, which borders Jordan, currently runs the largest desalination plant in the world, a title taken from Israel not long ago. Israel has long been a pioneer of membrane technology, which is the technology needed to separate salt and brine from the water.

According to SUEZ, the project “will significantly strengthen Jordan’s long-term water security while integrating environmental best practices in desalination.”

Who Will Profit from Jordan’s Water?

The financing structure is a public-private partnership. The consortium will raise a significant portion of the capital through a mix of private equity and project debt. Multilateral development banks are expected to participate, including institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation, alongside export credit agencies and commercial lenders.

Jordan’s government will ultimately purchase the water under long-term offtake agreements, creating predictable revenue streams for the concession holders over three decades.

That means: Infrastructure investors like Meridiam earn a stable, long-term return. SUEZ generates operating revenue from managing one of the region’s most strategic water assets. Construction giants VINCI Construction and Orascom Construction secure multi-billion-dollar engineering contracts. Lenders collect interest over the concession period. Jordan gains water security.

The question now is whether the financial model keeps water affordable for citizens while delivering returns to international investors? Locals I have spoke with found the cost of water to be negligible in their montly expenses, but will the costs increase going forward? In some countries the cost of water is free, and in others water is difficult to obtain, like on islands in Thailand where you can’t think of drinking tap water. Desalinated water is drinkable, as long as added minerals are put in place. Can Jordan do this?

Another option is for Jordan to strengthen trade with Saudi Arabia, which operates extensive desalination infrastructure along the Red Sea, producing over 3 billion cubic meters of water daily and accounting for nearly 50% of global desalination capacity. If the Vision 2030 ever comes to be, this is probably what will happen in reality.

The post Jordan’s $6 Billion Aqaba–Amman Desalination Project from the Red Sea Moves Forward appeared first on Green Prophet.

Every day, the Middle East’s desalination industry produces more brine than freshwater. Aquifers are drying up and becoming full of brine. Companies like Iyris claim to be able to farm on brackish water, solving part of the problem of access to freshwater. But a a small Saudi startup has found a solution to the problem inside the problem itself.

The math of desalination has long been troubling. Its energy-intensive and polluting. For every gallon of water pulled from the sea, a typical reverse osmosis plant discharges roughly 1.5 times the among of concentrated, chemically laden brine back into the ocean. Multiply that across the Middle East and North Africa, which is the region responsible for more than half of the world’s desalination output, and the scale of brine becomes alarming.

Global brine discharge now exceeds 140 million cubic meters per day, according to a 2019 UN-backed study, with Saudi Arabia alone accounting for 22 percent of the world’s total, according to a UN University Institute for Water study. The Arabian Gulf, already naturally one of the saltiest bodies of water on earth at 45 grams of salt per liter compared to a global ocean average nearer 35, is absorbing the consequences.

Into this problem has stepped Qalzam, a Saudi startup with a counterintuitive proposition: the brine is not the problem. It is the raw material.

Founded in Riyadh and incubated at the Saudi Water Innovation Center (SWIC), Qalzam has developed a process to extract sodium hypochlorite (the active compound in chlorine disinfectant) directly from the waste brine produced by reverse osmosis plants. That sodium hypochlorite is then fed straight back into the same plant to disinfect the freshwater it has just produced, closing what Qalzam describes as a circular loop within the desalination process itself. In conventional plants, sodium hypochlorite must be manufactured separately, transported to site, and purchased as a chemical input.

Qalzam eliminates all three steps simultaneously.

The chemistry is not new. Sodium hypochlorite can be generated electrochemically from saline solutions, which is a process long understood in laboratory settings and applied at small scales in wastewater treatment. What Qalzam is engineering is the industrial translation of that process specifically for the high-salinity, high-volume conditions of Gulf desalination, where brine concentrations are substantially higher than those seen elsewhere in the world, and where the scale of operations can make even marginal improvements in cost or chemistry enormously significant.

“The chemicals should be all neutralized,” said Noreddine Ghaffour, a research professor at the Water Desalination and Reuse Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), speaking about brine management at Saudi desalination plants more broadly. His comment reflects a growing scientific and regulatory consensus: the era of dumping chemically complex brine into already-stressed marine environments is approaching its limits.

The timing is propitious. Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as a global leader in desalination capacity, doubling its output in recent years and announcing $9.33 billion across 60 new projects in its latest expansion.

The Saudi Water Partnership Company is targeting a near-tripling of national desalination capacity to 7.5 million cubic meters per day by 2027. Each new plant that comes online represents both a new source of brine and a potential customer for Qalzam’s on-sitewater

disinfectant solution. The startup has also graduated from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources’ “Numuw” industrial incubator and accelerator program, giving it institutional credibility at a formative stage.

The wider scientific case for brine valorization is strengthening rapidly. Research published in the journal Water in November 2025 modeled a 100,000-cubic-meter-per-day reverse osmosis facility and found that a sequential brine recovery process could achieve over 90 percent total salt recovery while producing marketable materials including sodium chloride, magnesium hydroxide, and bromine.

The estimated revenue from recovered materials in such scenarios ranges between $4.5 million and $6.8 million per year, potentially offsetting 65 to 90 percent of annual desalination operating costs, with a payback period of three to five years.

Qalzam’s narrower focus on sodium hypochlorite extraction and reuse sits within this broader economic logic but is considerably simpler to implement, requiring no complex mineral separation trains or crystallization equipment. This matters because complexity has consistently been the enemy of adoption in industrial water treatment. The technologies that scale are typically those that integrate cleanly into existing infrastructure rather than requiring its wholesale redesign. A bolt-on electrochemical unit that converts waste brine into a disinfectant that the plant already needs is, in engineering terms, a much easier sell than a full brine-mining operation requiring downstream chemical processing and commodity markets for the outputs.

Beyond the economics, the environmental calculus is straightforward. Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coastline is already under documented ecological stress from brine discharge, with dense, oxygen-depleted plumes affecting benthic marine life near major outfalls. Over in the Red Sea, dolphins, coral reef and at-risk species cannot tolerate more stress on the already noisy and polluted shipping areas.

Any technology that reduces both the volume and chemical load of that discharge addresses a concern that regulators, ecologists, and increasingly the operators themselves recognize as unsustainable at the scale to which the region is building.

Qalzam is still early-stage, with its team small and its first commercial deployments ahead of it. But the company sits at the intersection of three converging forces: a region building desalination capacity at a pace unmatched anywhere on earth (despite the scaling back of Saudis’ Vision 2030 with lowering prices of oil), a scientific community that has spent a decade documenting the harms of brine disposal, and a policy environment.

Saudi Vision 2030 and the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 strategy incentivize circular economy approaches to industrial water management.

The Middle East did not choose to become the world’s desalination laboratory. Geography and hydrology made that decision for it. But the region’s sheer scale of operations means that solutions proven here, including whatever Qalzam refines on the shores of the Gulf, will be exportable to every water-stressed coast on the planet.

Red Sea Farms (now Iyris) who we interviewed here, is a separate but thematically related KAUST spinout worth contextualizing alongside Qalzam, not as partners, but as parallel examples of Saudi water innovation coming out of the same university ecosystem.

Not far away, with Jordan between them, Israel’s IDE Technologies, founded in 1965 and headquartered in Kadima-Zoran, built the Sorek desalination plant south of Tel Aviv, which for years was the largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination facility on earth, producing 624,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day and supplying roughly 20 percent of Israel’s municipal water demand.

Today, desalination supplies over 70 percent of Israel’s domestic water consumption, a figure that has effectively drought-proofed a country that receives less than 200 millimeters of rainfall annually across much of its territory.

::Qalzam

The post The Saudi Startup Turning Desalination’s Toxic Waste Into Its Own Disinfectant appeared first on Green Prophet.

Israel’s water and agricultural technologies didn’t emerge from ideal conditions. They were developed under pressure: low rainfall, saline water, political isolation, lack of energy resources, and the constant need to feed a growing population with limited land. Over the years, I’ve written about many of these companies not as miracle-makers, but as problem-solvers. That’s what makes them relevant to places like Somaliland. Israel was the first country in the world to recognize Somaliland as an independent state although Ethiopia has been treating the nation as such for decades.

Below are 10 technologies, and the Israeli companies behind them, that could realistically support Somaliland’s long-term food, water, and energy resilience.

The first is drip irrigation, pioneered by Netafim, founded in the 1960s on Kibbutz Hatzerim after engineer Simcha Blass noticed that slow, targeted watering produced healthier plants. Netafim’s systems are now used worldwide to cut water use while increasing yields, especially in dry regions.

Closely related is low-pressure irrigation and fertigation, advanced by companies like NaanDanJain and Rivulis. These systems work well for smallholder farmers, allowing nutrients and water to be delivered together with minimal waste.

For water supply, desalination technology developed by IDE Technologies has transformed Israel’s water security. While IDE is best known for large plants, the company has also developed smaller-scale systems suitable for coastal communities, which could be relevant for Somaliland’s long shoreline.

In parallel, solar-powered water pumping systems—used widely in Israel’s peripheral regions—can replace diesel pumps. While not a single-company solution, Israeli integrators often combine solar technology from firms like SolarEdge with water systems to power wells, treatment units, and irrigation without fuel imports.

Another promising approach is wastewater reuse, an area where Israel leads globally. Municipal-scale treatment combined with agricultural reuse has been refined through decades of practice, with engineering firms and public utilities supporting reuse rates that reach nearly 90 percent. Scaled-down versions of these systems could help Somaliland’s towns reuse water safely rather than losing it entirely.

In agriculture, greenhouse and net-house farming has been advanced by Israeli companies such as Hishtil, which supplies seedlings and controlled-growing solutions designed for heat and water stress. These systems allow year-round production of vegetables with far less water than open-field farming.

Precision agriculture has also become more accessible through Israeli startups like CropX and Phytech, which use soil sensors and plant data to tell farmers exactly when to irrigate. Even basic versions of these tools can significantly reduce water waste.

On the seed side, Israeli breeders such as Hazera and Zeraim Gedera (now part of Syngenta) have developed heat- and drought-tolerant vegetable varieties suited for semi-arid climates. Crop genetics matter as much as irrigation in a warming world.

Food loss after harvest is another overlooked challenge. Israeli cold-chain innovations, including solar-powered cold rooms used across Africa, help reduce spoilage and increase farmer incomes. These systems don’t require a national grid and can be deployed at cooperative or village scale.

Finally, there is knowledge transfer, often the most underestimated technology of all. Israel’s international development agency MASHAV has trained tens of thousands of farmers and water managers worldwide through hands-on programs focused on dryland agriculture, water reuse, and cooperative farming. Technology adoption succeeds when training is local, practical, and gradual.

None of these tools promise instant prosperity. But together, they form a practical toolkit shaped by environments not unlike Somaliland’s own. In a region too often discussed only through politics or security, focusing on water, food, and energy systems offers a quieter, more durable path forward.

The post 10 Proven Israeli Technologies to Help Somaliland Build Food, Water, and Energy Security appeared first on Green Prophet.

A dead shark that washed ashore this week at Beit Yanai beach in Israel has renewed concerns about the health of Israel’s marine ecosystems — and the growing risks humans face as climate and coastal pressures intensify.

Beachgoers reported the shark early in the morning, one of several unusual strandings seen along Israel’s coast this year. Marine biologists are investigating the cause of death, but early theories point to two escalating stressors: over-fishing, warming waters and desalination impacts.

Israel’s coastal waters are warming faster than the global average, drawing larger predators like sharks closer to shore in search of cooler currents and shifting prey. Earlier this year a man was fatally attacked by a shark while diving off the coast — a rare but stark reminder that marine behavior is changing.

At the same time, scientists warn that intensive desalination, now underpinning Israel’s national water supply, is subtly reshaping coastal ecosystems. While water is being pumped to replenish a shrinking Sea of Galilee, desalinated water is energy intense.

Brine discharge alters salinity and temperature gradients, influencing fish distribution and potentially disorienting species highly sensitive to environmental change, including sharks and sea turtles.

This is part of a wider pattern of marine disruption in the region. A whale was recently found and dragged to Gaza, where desperate residents butchered and consumed it — a grim indicator of ecological collapse intersecting with humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, Israel’s sea turtles, already struggling against plastic pollution and beach development, face these shifting conditions on multiple fronts. This man is protecting sea turtles in the Mediterranean Sea. Find out how. 

The dead shark at Beit Yanai may be just one animal, but it reflects a system under stress. Israel’s Mediterranean coastline — once a relative refuge — is becoming hotter, more crowded, and more industrially burdened. Without serious regional cooperation on marine protection, more strandings, more unpredictability, and more human–wildlife conflict are likely on the horizon. And consider just up the sea, in Lebanon, people are fishing with dynamite. 

The post Dead shark on beach injured by fishing nets appeared first on Green Prophet.

In the unfolding era of clean energy, smart investors are leaning on expert guidance more than ever—especially as they navigate the technical, regulatory, and financial thickets of wind, solar, hydrogen, grid resilience, and climate risk. For instance is your clean tech firm or company in wastewater treatment considering an office in Riyadh or should you stick with Dubai?  Below is a curated spotlight on 20 firms that shine for their deep expertise and proven ability to manage the complex risks of sustainable energy investment.

Consultants can help you find the risks and opportunities.

1. DNV

Why Investors Should Care: As a trusted independent advisor in wind, solar, storage, hydrogen, carbon capture, and more, DNV offers rigorous risk assessment and certification—helping investors avoid technical pitfalls and regulatory headaches.
Website: dnv.com

2. Wood Mackenzie

Why Investors Should Care: With powerful analytic tools and strategic advisory across oil, gas, renewables, utilities, and storage, they enable investors to anticipate market shifts and optimize asset portfolios.
Website: woodmac.com

3. E3 (Energy & Environmental Economics)

Why Investors Should Care: Specialists in net-zero strategies and digital technology for renewable integration, E3 helps investors model the energy future with clarity and confidence.
Website: See Willdan’s site (E3 now part of Willdan)—willdan.com

4. Arrowhead Consulting

Why Investors Should Care: Boutique agility with strong confidentiality and customized economic/technology-driven insights make Arrowhead a favorite for investors seeking tailored, strategic advice.

5. Brattle Group

Why Investors Should Care: Their data-driven approach to production forecasting, climate risk modeling, and finance-focused advice equips investors to manage uncertainty with clarity.

6. ICF International

Why Investors Should Care: A go-to for compliance, operational efficiency, and upstream GHG management—ICF aligns investments with evolving global standards.

7. McKinsey & Company

Why Investors Should Care: Their global analytics, proprietary energy models, and sustainability practices ensure investments are rooted in resilience and foresight—especially valuable in volatile markets.

8. Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

Why Investors Should Care: BCG guides decarbonization, capital planning for renewables, and energy system transformation—crucial for investors steering long-term portfolios.

9. Arthur D. Little (ADL)

Why Investors Should Care: Known for its Open Consulting innovation model, ADL helps investors navigate utility convergence, smart energy systems, and sustainable transformation.

10. Roland Berger

Why Investors Should Care: Delivers hands-on strategic support for decarbonization, market entry, and circular economy investments—especially useful for mid-sized deals in Europe and beyond.

11. Jacobs Energy Consulting

Why Investors Should Care: With deep engineering roots and hydrogen systems expertise—even partnering with NASA—Jacobs delivers infrastructure-level insights that help investors assess emerging tech risks.

12. Ramboll

Why Investors Should Care: A global leader in renewables, energy islands, hydrogen, and digital analytics—Ramboll’s integrated model helps investors foresee infrastructure and climate exposures.
Website: ramboll.com/energy

13. Energetics (now part of ERM)

Why Investors Should Care: Deep climate risk and energy transition expertise in Australia; invaluable for investors looking into APAC energy markets and adaptation strategies.
Website: via ERM

14. Enerdata

Why Investors Should Care: Energy data specialists—providing quality datasets that alert investors to macro energy trends before they hit headlines.
Website: energdata.net

15. Perfect Sense Energy (UK)

Why Investors Should Care: They offer turnkey solar solutions—design, financing, installation, and monitoring all in one; perfect for investors seeking efficiency in solar rollouts.
Website: perfectsenseenergy.com

16. Inspired PLC (UK)

Why Investors Should Care: A listed consultancy with deep expertise in procurement, ESG strategy, and cost savings—equips investors with sustainability-aligned operations.
Website: inspiredplc.co.uk

17. The Carbon Trust (UK)

Why Investors Should Care: A mission-driven advisor helping clients map decarbonization, supply-chain footprints, and net-zero strategies—one of the most credible voices in green finance.
Website: carbontrust.com

18. ZTP (Zero Trace Procurement) (UK)

Why Investors Should Care: Offers real-time software for carbon tracking and procurement—ideal for investors demanding transparency and data-driven ESG oversight.
Website: ztpuk.com

19. Lumina Energy (UK)

Why Investors Should Care: Specializing in public-sector energy spend, sourcing, and carbon-reduction plans—keeps big institutional capital aligned with green commitments.
Website: luminaenergy.co.uk

20. Ignite Energy (UK; part of Inspired PLC)

Why Investors Should Care: Provides hands-on energy monitoring and efficiency—critical for investors focused on operational and financial performance in commercial assets.
Website: igniteenergy.co.uk

Why Investors Should Partner With These Firms

1. Manage Technical and Regulatory Risk: Avoid stranded assets, permitting issues, or flawed engineering—all through expert vetting and certification.

2. Navigate Market Volatility: Data-driven insights anticipate policy shifts, commodity cycles, and technology disruptions—keeping investment horizons healthy.

3. Advance ESG Credibility: Empower your portfolio with scientifically backed net-zero roadmaps, carbon accounting tools, and green operational strategies.

4. Protect Capital Through Forecasting: Accurate modeling, scenario planning, and resource forecasts help investors build resilience into project valuations.

5. Accelerate Diligence & Deal Flow: Consultants help streamline due diligence, enabling swift but informed decision-making.

The post Investing in the Middle East? These 20 Energy consultants can de-risk your portfolio appeared first on Green Prophet.

Investors should require independent KPIs: energy intensity (kWh/m³) for desal plants, verifiable renewable MWh, biodiversity baselines, and public reporting aligned with GRI/SASB—rather than relying on glossy pledges.

Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a once-in-a-century transformation. Vision 2030 is pushing the Kingdom to diversify away from oil through massive investment in tourism, logistics, manufacturing, and technology—while developing renewable power and modernizing water infrastructure. For investors, the upside is real: multibillion-dollar project pipelines, incentives in special economic and industrial zones, and a government willing to co-invest. The risks are real too: execution delays on gigaprojects, policy uncertainty (e.g., the regional HQ mandate), and reputational scrutiny around sustainability and governance.

Tourism is Vision 2030’s marquee growth engine. Saudi Arabia surpassed 100 million visits in 2023 and is now targeting 150 million by 2030, according to UN Tourism and official statements. Can it be the new Bali or Phuket? The Government website notes that about 20 million tourists come to Mecca every year as holy Hajj pilgrims, however. So numbers don’t reflect traditional western style tourism.

In 2024 the Kingdom counted roughly 116 million domestic and inbound trips; in early 2025, authorities reported triple-digit growth in international arrivals off a relatively new base. On the ground, luxury coastal destinations led by Red Sea Global are opening in phases (e.g., St. Regis and Six Senses islands), positioned around net-zero energy claims, mangrove restoration, and stringent construction controls.

See on-the-ground Green Prophet reporting: Red Sea Islands: Luxury Tourism & Sustainability, Shebara Resort, Shebara pod hotel pricing, Sheybarah sea pods. The Financial Times frames the broader tourism pivot (>US$1 trillion ambition) and its contradictions (e.g., alcohol policy, social norms).

Industrial Parks, Special Economic Zones, and the HQ Mandate

Knowing that its oil days are limited, Saudi Arabia is courting manufacturers and service firms into MODON industrial cities and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) with land, infrastructure, and fiscal incentives. Explore MODON’s official resources: MODON portal, Industrial Cities list, Cost of Industry.

Regulatory leverage is also in play: since 2024, companies seeking Saudi government contracts must hold a regional headquarters in Riyadh. Reuters and policy trackers have covered the mandate and its enforcement. BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs and others have obtained RHQ licenses as the King Abdullah Financial District gains tenants—yet analysts still flag competition from Dubai and the need for continued legal and regulatory clarity. Dubai or Riyadh? This source explains that in Saudi Arabia your business taxes will be about 20% and you will need to pay a 2.5% religious tax called zakat.

Despite progress, FDI inflows have been uneven: net FDI dipped in Q1 2025 and officials acknowledge the stretch target of US$100 billion annually by 2030.

NEOM: Visionary Scale Meets Delivery Reality

NEOM anchors the northwest “giga-project” slate: The Line (urban spine), Oxagon (industrial hub), Trojena (alpine resort), Sindalah (island), Jaumur marina community, plus a world-scale green hydrogen complex. Recent reporting also notes write-downs and re-phasing across giga-assets at PIF—important context for timelines and returns.

• NEOM is Saudi’s mega-green Gotham city
• “15-minute city” life critique
• Jaumur marina resort
• World’s largest green hydrogen plant at NEOM

Power, Water, and the Energy–Water Nexus (Why It Matters to Investors)

Saudi electricity is still dominated by oil and gas, but the renewables build-out accelerated in July 2025: ACWA Power, Badeel (PIF) and Aramco Power signed US$8.3 billion worth of PPAs across five solar and two wind projects (15 GW). Foreign-press and official releases confirm the scale and strategy.

Why this matters: water. The Kingdom is the world’s largest producer of desalinated water via SWCC; policy is shifting from thermal (MSF) to high-efficiency RO, reducing energy intensity and easing integration with solar. Official reports and technical papers outline the capacity and technology pivot.

Green Prophet coverage offers investor-friendly context on water modernization and finance: US$650M desalination modernization, Yanbu-4 clean-energy desal, Japanese RO tech at Shoaiba.

Successes Worth Noting

• Tourism delivery: Early Red Sea openings (LEED Platinum claims, 100% solar operations, mangrove planting) and steady AlUla programming point to credible, phased execution that can scale if flight capacity, visas, and service standards keep pace.
• Grid transition: Utility-scale renewables and fast-growing battery storage are now central to capacity planning; financing costs and Chinese supply chains have helped unlock low PPA prices.
• Mega-events and place-branding: Expo 2030 company (PIF) was stood up to deliver venues and operations—an important governance signal for schedule discipline.

Challenges and Friction Points

• Execution risk on gigaprojects: PIF’s 2024 annual report reflected an ~US$8 billion write-down across flagship projects, underlining re-sequencing and scope changes. Investors should model delays and phasing.
• FDI momentum vs. mandates: The regional HQ rule is working for some global banks and managers, yet overall FDI remains below 2030 ambitions. Expect continued incentive sweeteners—and compliance checks on local presence and spend.
• Social norms & market access: Policy changes—alcohol bans, content and attire rules, and due-process concerns—can affect Western consumer sentiment and partner risk committees. The FT analysis is a useful primer for brand and events teams.
• Higher taxes, at 20% and a mandatory religious tax called zakat of 2.5%.
• “Green PR” vs. measurable sustainability: Saudi spends heavily on global design and comms. Investors should require independent KPIs: energy intensity (kWh/m³) for desal plants, verifiable renewable MWh, biodiversity baselines, and public reporting aligned with GRI/SASB—rather than relying on glossy pledges. See Saudis killed and family jailed during The Line construction.

Due-Diligence Checklist for Investors

1. Water–energy math: For hotels, industrial tenants, and data centers, model electricity demand and indirect water footprint (power cooling + desal). Track the grid mix where your load interconnects.
2. Local-content & HQ policy: Budget for the RHQ requirement (governance, staffing, leases) to access government contracts.
3. Zone incentives vs. obligations: In MODON and SEZs, confirm land tenure, utility tariffs, import rules, arbitration venue, and exit mechanics.
4. Tourism demand realism: Separate Muslim pilgrimages to Mecca, VFR, and true international leisure segments when forecasting ADR/RevPAR in Red Sea or AlUla corridors.
5. ESG verification: Ask for third-party audits on energy, water, waste, and nature impacts; evaluate desal technology (RO vs. thermal) and brine handling. Current Middle East developers and investors, and compliant architects in the Middle East are easy to tout “eco-successes” when none in fact are in place. See our article on the Aga Khan Prize and the ever-present greenwashing in the Middle East.

Want to invest in the Middle East? Jump Into the Free Green Prophet Archive—Saudi & Regional Context

• Saudi Arabia’s $650M bet on desalination
• Saudi digitizes 100,000 trees
• Red Sea tourism & sustainability
• Shebara Resort profile
• Shebara pod pricing
• Sheybarah sea pods
• Yanbu-4 clean-energy desal
• Wild plant survey (NCVC)
• How degraded is the Saudi desert?
• Ibex Protected Area/Green List
• Maraya mirror hall, AlUla
• AlUla/Hegra visitor guide
• Glamping on dead volcanoes
• “Dream of the Desert” luxury train
• David Popa at Hegra
• Heatherwick Jeddah museum (ex-desal plant)
• NEOM overview (critique)
• NEOM “15-minute city” life
• NEOM Jaumur marina
• NEOM green hydrogen plant
• RedSea Farms scales in KSA
• RedSea hot-climate greenhouses
• RedSea expands to Egypt
• Aramco invests in RedSea Farms
• Saudi wins Expo 2030
• The Mukaab (“new Kaaba”)
• Shoiaba RO membranes

The post Choosing Riyadh over Dubai? What Investors Should Know appeared first on Green Prophet.

20% of Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas production is devoted to supporting co-generation desalination plants

Saudi Arabia stands as the undisputed global leader in industrial-scale desalination—a paradoxical triumph in a water-starved landscape powered predominantly by its most abundant resource: oil. The same black gold that fuels its economy also sustains its fresh water supply through energy-intensive desalination—a defining success born of necessity.

Saudi Arabia relies heavily on thermal and co-generation desalination, fueled by fossil energy. Notably, the Kingdom consumes approximately 300,000 barrels of oil per day solely for its desalination infrastructure. In terms of electricity usage, desalination accounted for around 6% of the nation’s total consumption in 2020. More broadly, it’s estimated that 20% of Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas production is devoted to supporting co-generation desalination plants, with projections indicating that by 2030, half of its domestic oil and gas output may be allocated solely for water supply.

For instance, Riyadh located in the center of the country is supplied by desalinated water pumped from the Arabian Gulf over a distance of 467 km. It is estimated in this paper that almost 20% of oil domestic production is used for desalination plants in Saudi Arabia.

The government projected that Saudi Arabia needs to spend over 213 USD Billion over the next decade to meet the demand in both water and electricity.

Related: Red Sea Farms grows food using brackish water and dead aquifers

Renewables on the Rise

Despite the oil-driven legacy, the Kingdom is strategically shifting toward renewables. By the end of 2023, Saudi Arabia had installed approximately 2.8 GW of renewable capacity (primarily solar), with 5 GW planned under its National Renewable Energy Program.

The government’s ambitious target: 50% of electricity generation capacity from renewables by 2030. As of mid-2024, over 21 GW of projects were in the pipeline, with 9.7 GW slated for completion by 2026. Within the desalination sector, the Saudi Water Authority now sources 20 % of the energy for new plants from renewable sources, while aiming to shrink carbon emissions from 60 million to 37 million tonnes by 2025, partly through minimizing liquid fuel use.

Yet desalination is not without its drawbacks. In a Green Prophet article, Yale’s Menachem Elimelech cautioned that “even the most advanced desalination technologies… still use three times as much energy as conventional water treatment.” Thermal methods, common in Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, “use a lot of energy.” This echoes broader concerns that desalination should remain a last-resort measure, pursued only after emphasising conservation, reuse, and efficiency.

Top 5 Desalination Players

Here are five leading companies shaping the global desalination industry, with operations or influence in Saudi Arabia—and one prominently Israeli:

The Saudi Water Authority (formerly SWCC) is the state enterprise operating over 30 plants with a combined capacity of ~7.5 million m³/day. It’s the world’s largest fully owned desal producer.

ACWA Power is a Saudi-based developer and operator of power and desalination facilities, with a portfolio yielding 9.5 million m³/day across 14 countries and USD 107.5 billion in investment.

Veolia is a global leader profiting from the Gulf’s surge in desal demand. Veolia brings massive energy-efficiency innovations, delivering up to 85% gains and 90% cost reductions in desal water production.

Acciona is a Spanish company with a robust water division; its 2024 revenues hit €1.2 billion, with desal projects spanning from Australia to Qatar.

IDE Technologies is an Israeli pioneer in desalination since 1965, IDE has built dozens of plants globally. Notably, its Sorek plant in Israel is one of the world’s largest RO facilities. Inclusion of IDE addresses the requirement for an Israeli company. Israeli stocks are currently on the rise. IDE is up for public bidding.

The Future of Saudi Desalination

Saudi Arabia’s approach illustrates a pragmatic melding of resources and strategy: hydrocarbon wealth enabled its desalination network, securing water independence for decades. Renewables are now integral to its energy transition and desalination infrastructure.

Yet, energy intensity remains a critical limitation, prompting experts to urge diversification and conservation. Leading desalination players—local and global—continue to drive innovation and scale, with some like IDE transcending geopolitical boundaries through technical prowess.

Saudi Arabia’s success in desalination is undeniable—fueled by oil, powered by innovation, and now pivoting toward renewables. Yet voices like Gidon Bromberg and Menachem Elimelech’s highlighting in Green Prophet) remind us that desalination is resource-intensive and should not eclipse broader water-management strategies. The Kingdom’s trajectory, backed by heavyweights like SWA, ACWA, Veolia, Acciona, and IDE, may well serve as both model and cautionary tale for water-scarce regions worldwide.

Get a backgrounder on water issues from the last year in the MENA Middle East region:

1. Saudi Arabia’s $650M bet on desalination
2. Water conflicts in the Middle East region to watch in 2025
3. The Flash Flood Wave Redefining Policy in the MENA Region
4. Iran’s water mafia and thirst for war leaves the country on brink of being dry
5. Wastewater plants are a hidden climate issue, and we’re measuring it all wrong
6. Sinkholes and Shrinking Shores: The Race to Rescue the Dead Sea
7. Iran is sinking in sinkholes from overwatering
8. Ecomondo 2025: Italy’s Green Expo Powers Global Circular Innovation
9. Greta Thunberg Sails Toward Gaza as Israeli Navy Prepares Interception
10. Climate, Not Just People, Is Driving Central Asia’s Desertification, Study Finds
11. Jordan turns to ancient fire and mines volcanic soil to solve water crisis
12. Iraq’s Ancient Water Wisdom Faces a Modern Reckoning
13. A Solar-Powered Device Pulls Drinking Water from Desert Air
14. Global Progress and Setbacks: Tracking Water Quality Indicators Toward SDG 6 by 2030
15. They Call Her Madam Torti. She Might Be the Only One Who Can Save Seychelles Turtles

The post Saudi Arabia’s oil-powered desalination “success” consumes 20% of its domestic oil use appeared first on Green Prophet.

Saudi Arabia has inked a major financing deal to modernize desalination—again. The Saudi Water Authority (SWA) signed an agreement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Kingdom’s National Infrastructure Fund (Infra) to support upgrades at Jubail Phase I and Khobar Phase II, with total financing of USD 650 million. Signed on the sidelines of AIIB’s Annual Meeting in Beijing (June, 2025), the package will convert aging multi-stage flash (MSF) assets to reverse osmosis (RO)—the global standard for lower-energy, modular desalination.

According to the parties, AIIB will provide the lion’s share—over SAR 1.6 billion (~USD 450 million)—one of the bank’s largest non-sovereign corporate financings to date, while Infra contributes SAR 750 million (~USD 200 million) via a Murabaha facility. SWA executives say the modernization extends plant life by ~20 years, boosts output, and slashes energy intensity—key to Saudi’s climate and efficiency goals under Vision 2030.

Reverse osmosis uses membranes and pressure, not heat, to separate salts from seawater. It’s already the backbone of the world’s newest mega-plants, including Khobar Phase II, which has reached record daily production of ~671,000 m³. By replacing MSF trains with RO skids, operators can cut electricity demand and integrate solar and wind power more easily—vital in a grid pivoting toward renewables and green hydrogen.

But desalination isn’t a silver bullet. RO still concentrates salts and trace pollutants into brine, a disposal challenge for sensitive Red Sea reef ecosystems. Efficiency upgrades matter, yet so do smarter outfalls, brine-to-minerals recovery, and robust monitoring—especially along coastlines already under stress from microplastics and warming seas.

Don’t Forget Brackish Water

Saudi water isn’t only about the sea. The Kingdom also taps brackish inland aquifers—less salty than seawater—where RO can operate at a fraction of the energy and cost. With proper reuse and aquifer-recharge strategies, brackish desalination can relieve pressure on coastal plants and reduce the carbon footprint. The catch? Inland concentrate management. Without coastal dilution, brine needs evaporation ponds, deep-well injection, or recovery of valuable minerals to prevent soil and groundwater impacts.

Alongside hardware upgrades, Saudi utilities are embracing “smart water” analytics—pilots often grouped under initiatives like IRYIS—to track losses, predict failures, and squeeze more value from every cubic meter. Think AI-assisted pressure management, pipeline leak detection, and SCADA-integrated demand forecasting. In a country where urban resilience now hinges on real-time data, the software layer may deliver savings on par with plant retrofits.

NEOM’s Big “Eco” Claim—And the Caveats

No Saudi water story is complete without NEOM, the high-profile giga-project selling a future of “100% renewable desalination,” circular brine chemistry, and hydrogen-powered industry. Ambition is welcome—Saudi needs moonshots to decouple water from oil. Yet branding vast coastal megaprojects as ecological projects raises tough questions about biodiversity impacts, embodied carbon, and social footprints along the Red Sea. But follow the money as plenty of Europeans are readying to greenwash NEOM for hard to ignore dividends.

If “green” is to be more than a marketing color, delivery must match the deck: renewables actually powering RO 24/7, brine managed as a resource not a waste, and transparent reporting on emissions and marine health.

The SWA–AIIB–Infra package signals a maturing water finance market. Blended capital, corporate structures, and performance-based upgrades can scale faster than sovereign megaprojects alone. As AIIB notes, “modernization” is climate adaptation—hardening critical supply while cutting energy per liter. If paired with demand-side efficiency, heritage water know-how, and water-smart urbanism, Saudi could pivot from crisis-driven builds to a resilient, circular water economy.

“This financing represents a significant step toward enhancing the water sector’s sustainability, increasing climate resilience, and improving the efficiency of national projects,” says Eng. Sharekh Al-Sharekh, SWA VP for Technical Affairs and Projects. AIIB calls it a commitment to “long-term water security” through modernization.

Desalination will remain a pillar of Saudi water security. The question is whether this new wave—RO retrofits, brackish efficiency, IRYIS-style analytics, and the grand NEOM promise—can turn “more water” into better water: lower-carbon, nature-literate, and honestly measured against the ecosystems it touches.

What to Watch Next in Saudi Arabia

• How quickly MSF units are retired and RO capacity ramps without service gaps.
• Proof that renewables—not oil and gas—are powering more of Saudi’s water.
• More Saudis in the workforce managing stakes in their own resources
• Transparent data on brine salinity, temperature, and outfall impacts in the Red Sea.
• Scaling of wastewater reuse and agri-water efficiency to reduce desal demand growth.

Further reading on Green Prophet

 

• Desalination’s brine problem and marine ecology
• Solar energy breakthroughs in the Middle East
• NEOM’s green hydrogen and the hype test
• Accelerating urban water resilience in Gulf cities
• Advancing wastewater reuse in MENA
• Permaculture tools for arid regions
• Ancient water systems that still work
• Microplastics and Middle East coasts
• Designing water-smart cities in MENA
• Regenerative farming and water savings

The post Saudi Arabia’s $650M bet on desalination appeared first on Green Prophet.

The United Nations has 17 objectives that paint a more resource-conscious and fair world called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The sixth mission is to “ensure access to clean water and sanitation for all” by 2030. The turn of the decade will happen before too long, so assessing progress and moments for improvement at this stage is critical. How is SDG 6 going, and what can humanity do to achieve it?

The Wins and Conditions

Years of governmental and humanitarian work have achieved massive wins for the planet since the goal’s inception. Here is how each pillar of this goal has changed between 2015 and 2022.

More Widespread Sanitation and Hygiene Services

Many nations have water availability, but no way to clean it for drinking and basic hygiene needs. It is why enhancing access to already clean water and sanitation technologies must occur simultaneously. Sanitation services rose from 49% to 57%, and hygiene services rose from 67% to 75%.

The positive movement is necessary, but it also needs to happen faster. Current accomplishments have given millions of people better sanitation while informing them of the best steps forward. For example, rural areas saw enhancements while urban regions are unaltered or have reduced water quality.

Increased Access to Drinking Water

Water scarcity plagues the planet, as the climate crisis causes reserves to run dry and rains to be infrequent. It impacts 785 million people globally but is becoming less common every year.

Dependability is uncertain, so restoring access is essential for an equitable world. In these years, access to safe drinking water rose from 69% to 73%. The positive trend influences the goal because it shows the power of collaboration, but the future needs work to occur six times faster than this rate to meet the target. 

Better Water Efficiency

Resource use efficiency is an aspect of this goal because it lowers global water stress levels. It dictates how much freshwater is available versus how many renewable resources can compensate for demand. The worldwide average was at a safe range in 2020 because of optimizations in agriculture and industry. Small adjustments like investing in low-flow fixtures and water recycling technologies make a monumental difference.

However, the progress also shows that the average hides regional differences, as countries in southern Asia and northern Africa see unprecedented levels of water stress.

The Setbacks and Improvement Areas

As valuable as the wins are for giving clean and plentiful water to nations, many are not on track to meet 2030 expectations. Several obstacles hinder progress, and knowing what they are and how they influence SDG 6’s trajectory is crucial for discovering solutions. 

Robust advocacy networks to increase urgency for these issues are vital for getting as close as possible. These are the setbacks activists, governments and citizens can work on together.

Decline in Official Development Assistance

Investments are the lifeblood of most infrastructure development and water access expansion. Funding for these projects has slowed between 2015 and 2021, declining from $9.6 to $8.1 billion. 

Private and public stakeholder interests have changed everywhere for many reasons, whether geopolitically or socioculturally influenced. Regardless, advocates and legislators must establish programs and convince investors to reach peak commitment.

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Is Rare

IWRM is a methodology that balances commercial and industrial water use with the needs of the citizens. It ensures there are enough resources to go around while paying attention to the impacts usage has on ecosystems and the future of sustainable development. Implementation rose to 57% in 2023, but the goal is 91% by 2030.

Companies using the most resources can catalyze change by budgeting for more holistic water management systems. Many could wait until it is mandatory through regulatory power, but organizations must act while they wait for more standardization. 

Water Quality Is Declining

In the U.S., around 40% of its water does not meet the standards of the Clean Water Act, which is the primary framework for regulatory influence. Many of the world’s low-quality reserves demonstrate a greater need for monitoring technologies and even better sanitation density. 

The reality should inspire collaborative efforts to share advanced technologies, like the Internet of Things, to let nations collect more data about what impacts their water. Increasing awareness of specific pollutants informs targeted treatment needs.

Adverse Actions Against Water Protections

Many private, public and governmental choices are hurting essential natural water features and resources. They need elevated protections to achieve SDG 6. For example, India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, which influences accessibility to people in Pakistan.

Global wetlands are also under threat in many nations, with many in desperate need of restoration and care. Mangroves, marshes and other ecosystems are critical for filtering water while serving as essential carbon sinks. These processes have a lasting impact on neighboring communities and habitats by boosting soil quality. This helps industries like agriculture conserve water, as the soil is better at absorbing it to achieve better growth cycles.

Activities like this must receive opposition from legislators and citizens alike. Otherwise, they will continue to happen. Neglecting water protection is one of the most widespread negative influences on SDG 6, as it culminates in many actions.

Ensuring Water and Sanitation for All

The progress and setbacks bring equal hope to this objective. Every win is a celebration, which sustains momentum until humanity hits its 2030 goal. Simultaneously, each shortcoming will inspire greater action and innovation. Current projections prove progress is slow in 2025, but accelerating efforts and boosting funding for related projects could get it there despite potential barriers.

The post Global Progress and Setbacks: Tracking Water Quality Indicators Toward SDG 6 by 2030 appeared first on Green Prophet.

Desalination plants, a major and growing source of freshwater in dry regions, could produce less harmful waste using electricity and new membranes made at the University of Michigan.The membranes could help desalination plants minimize or eliminate brine waste produced as a byproduct of turning seawater into drinking water. Today, liquid brine waste is stored in ponds until the water evaporates, leaving behind solid salt or a concentrated brine that can be further processed. But brine needs time to evaporate, providing ample opportunities to contaminate groundwater.

Space is also an issue. For every liter of drinking water produced at the typical desalination plant, 1.5 liters of brine are produced. Over 37 billion gallons of brine waste is produced globally every day, according to a UN study. When space for evaporation ponds is lacking, desalination plants inject the brine underground or dump it into the ocean. Rising salt levels near desalination plants can harm marine ecosystems.

“There’s a big push in the desalination industry for a better solution,” said Jovan Kamcev, U-M assistant professor of chemical engineering and the corresponding author of the study published today in Nature Chemical Engineering. “Our technology could help desalination plants be more sustainable by reducing waste while using less energy.”

To eliminate brine waste, desalination engineers would like to concentrate the salt such that it can be easily crystallized in industrial vats rather than ponds that can occupy over a hundred acres. The separated water could be used for drinking or agriculture, while the solid salt could then be harvested for useful products. Seawater not only contains sodium chloride—or table salt—but valuable metals such as lithium for batteries, magnesium for lightweight alloys and potassium for fertilizer.

Desalination plants can concentrate brines by heating and evaporating the water, which is very energy intensive, or with reverse osmosis, which only works at relatively low salinity. Electrodialysis is a promising alternative because it works at high salt concentrations and requires relatively little energy. The process uses electricity to concentrate salt, which exists in water as charged atoms and molecules called ions.

Here’s how the process works. Water flows into many channels separated by membranes, and each membrane has the opposite electrical charge of its neighbors. The entire stream is flanked by a pair of electrodes. The positive salt ions move toward the negatively charged electrode, and are stopped by a positively charged membrane. Negative ions move toward the positive electrode, stopped by a negative membrane. This creates two types of channels—one that both positive and negative ions leave and another that the ions enter, resulting in streams of purified water and concentrated brine.

But, electrodialysis has its own salinity limits. As the salt concentrations rise, ions start to leak through electrodialysis membranes. While leak-resistant membranes exist on the market, they tend to transport ions too slowly, making the power requirements impractical for brines more than six times saltier than average seawater.

The researchers overcome this limit by packing a record number of charged molecules into the membrane, increasing their ion-repelling power and their conductivity—meaning they can move more salt with less power. With their chemistry, the researchers can produce membranes that are ten times more conductive than relatively leak-proof membranes on the market today.

The dense charge ordinarily attracts a lot of water molecules, which limits how much charge can fit in conventional electrodialysis membranes. The membranes swell as they absorb water, and the charge is diluted. In the new membranes, connectors made of carbon prevent swelling by locking the charged molecules together.

The level of restriction can be changed to control the leakiness and the conductivity of the membranes. Allowing some level of leakiness can push the conductivity beyond today’s commercially available membranes. The researchers hope the membrane’s customizability will help it take off.”Each membrane isn’t fit for every purpose, but our study demonstrates a broad range of choices,” said David Kitto, a postdoctoral fellow in chemical engineering and the study’s first author. “Water is such an important resource, so it would be amazing to help to make desalination a sustainable solution to our global water crisis.”

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