Desalination

Desalination

Desalination has emerged as a major source of domestic water, and according to the current water strategy, most of the demand will be met for domestic purposes. By the end of 2011, there were 94 desalination plants in Oman, including 47 seawater desalination plants and 47 brackish water desalination plants, with a total production of 196 million cubic metres. The first desalination plant in Oman came into operation in 1976. The state-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), which is the exclusive buyer of power and desalinated water from independent producers, has taken pioneering steps to increase desalination capacity from IWPs by 107,300 cubic meters from Water daily for the next six years. OPWP collects a bulk supply quote from the Public Authority for Water and Electricity, with capacity (fixed) and output (variable) components. The average tariff in 2017 was around 500 baisas per cubic meter components. The average tariff in 2017 was around 500 baisas per cubic meter.

Desalination processes are an integral part of Oman's utility infrastructure, providing millions of Omanis with safe drinking water. Water demand in the main network is expected to grow by 5% to 7% annually over the next seven years, rising from 281 million cubic meters in 2015 to between 390 million cubic meters and 440 million cubic meters in 2022.

Desalination faces many challenges. These include high cost and energy needs, unavailability of large storage facilities to meet emergency requirements, network losses (non-revenue water), estimated at around 30%, and the closure of the coastal desalination plant due to harmful periodic algal blooms.