Commentary
Mark Dowdall
Power & water editor

Across the GCC, power and water networks have largely been planned around steadily rising consumption, driven by population growth and cooling demand.

A drawn-out conflict in the region may begin to change how planners think about these systems – particularly how they can keep operating if parts of the network are disrupted.

On Thursday, Iran’s Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi said that US-Israeli attacks had damaged water and electricity supply facilities in several parts of the country, while urging the public to be careful with water and electricity consumption.

So far, major power and water infrastructure in the GCC has largely avoided damage. In the case of desalination, plants of this scale supply drinking water to millions of people, so striking them would immediately affect civilian populations and represent a significant escalation.

There is also an element of mutual vulnerability. Iran relies on its own electricity and water infrastructure, and Aliabadi’s comments this week suggest those systems are already under pressure. Targeting desalination plants in the GCC could invite similar disruptions at home.

However, if infrastructure disruption becomes a recurring risk in the region, the question may gradually shift from how to produce more water and electricity to how to reduce immediate reliance on continuous supply.

Some elements of that thinking are already visible in the project pipeline. In Saudi Arabia, for example, total reservoir storage capacity has reached about 25.1 million cubic metres, with roughly 44% located in the Mecca region and 31% in Riyadh. This provides a buffer that can sustain supply temporarily if desalination production is disrupted.

Additionally, the kingdom has about $8bn-worth of water storage projects in early study or feed stages. As regional tensions persist, schemes like this may move higher up the priority list.