Saudi Arabia is planning to invest SR112bn ($30bn) on building new desalination plants and water transmission pipelines over the next 15 years.

Speaking at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi on 20 January, Abdulrahman al-Ibrahim, governor, SWCC said that SR82bn would be invested on new desalination plants, and SR30bn on water transmission networks to supply the water to users.

Al-Ibrahim told the conference that demand for water reached almost 5.7 per cent a year between 2010 and 2015, more than double the population growth of 2.6-2.7 per cent.

The SWCC governor said that the government remained committed to the ambitious development programme planned, but that “tactics” of delivering will change to suit the current economic climate of lower-priced oil.