RIYADH, July 7 — The business of turning seawater into drinking water has become a multibillion-dollar global enterprise, with projects spanning the Middle East, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific region. For communities across Asia, where freshwater stress is a growing reality, the technology and the companies that build these plants are increasingly central to future planning. At the top of the global desalination league stands Saudi Arabia, which produces more than five million cubic meters of fresh water every day.
The kingdom’s Ras Al Khair plant, commissioned in 2014, is a cornerstone of that capacity, generating 1.036 million cubic meters daily. Across the border in the United Arab Emirates, the Jebel Ali plant, operational since 1979, is even larger, producing 2.2 million cubic meters each day.
These are not small facilities; they are industrial-scale operations that underpin the water supply for millions of people in arid Gulf cities. The companies that build and operate these plants are a mix of European, Asian, and American firms with deep histories. IDE Technologies, an Israeli company founded in 1965, built the Sorek and Ashkelon desalination plants, two of the most prominent in the Mediterranean region.
Veolia Water Technologies, part of the French utility giant Veolia that traces its roots to 1853, now operates more than 200 desalination plants worldwide. The largest desalination company by market share, SUEZ, was folded into Veolia in 2022, consolidating the industry’s top player under one roof.
Spanish infrastructure firm Acciona, founded in 1931, brought its expertise to Australia with the Adelaide Desalination Plant, completed in 2013 and capable of producing 300,000 cubic meters of water per day. South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries, established in 1962, built the Fujairah plant in the UAE, adding another major facility to the Gulf’s desalination network. Closer to home for many across the Asia-Pacific, the experience of Australia’s Adelaide plant offers a case study in how desalination can supplement urban water supplies during drought.
For families in coastal Asian cities from Chennai to Manila, where groundwater depletion and seasonal dry spells are acute, the technology represents a reliable — if energy-intensive — option.
American footprint
In the United States, the largest desalination plant is the Carlsbad facility in California, which became operational in 2015. It produces 204,000 cubic meters of water each day. Developed by Poseidon Water, the Carlsbad plant cost $1 billion to build.
That price tag highlights a central challenge for the industry: desalination remains expensive, requiring significant capital investment and ongoing energy costs. For developing economies in Asia, the question is not just whether the technology works, but whether it is financially feasible at scale.
The global market for desalination is dominated by a handful of players. Veolia, through its acquisition of SUEZ, now controls the largest share. But competition from firms like IDE Technologies, Acciona, and Doosan keeps the field dynamic.
Each company brings different strengths: IDE has a long track record in reverse-osmosis membrane technology; Acciona has deep experience in large-scale infrastructure projects; Doosan has a strong presence in the Middle East.
What to watch
As climate patterns shift and populations grow, the demand for desalination is expected to rise across Asia. Countries like India, Indonesia, and the Philippines are exploring new plants, while existing facilities in Singapore and Australia are being expanded. The key variables will be energy costs — desalination is power-hungry — and the environmental impact of brine discharge, which remains a concern for coastal ecosystems.
The companies that can solve those two problems — lowering energy use and managing brine — will likely lead the next wave of development. For now, the industry’s center of gravity remains in the Gulf, where the world’s largest plants are already running.
But the technology is spreading, and for communities from the Arabian Sea to the Pacific, the business of making water from the sea is only going to grow.
