Saudi Arabia produces around 22% of the world’s desalinated water. That scale alone makes the Kingdom a global leader in water security. By 2024, desalination capacity reached 11.5 million cubic meters per day, up sharply from 6.28 million m³/day in 2015. Daily output hit 6.3 million m³ in 2023, setting new records and supplying water across the country.
Now, the next phase is unfolding. It is no longer just about producing water. It is about upgrading aging plants with carbon removal and brine mining systems. This shift defines the new era of green desalination Saudi Arabia.
Retrofitting for Carbon Removal and Brine Mining
Desalinated seawater now makes up 50% of Saudi Arabia’s distributed water supply. In 2022, it stood at 44%. That jump reflects a 31% increase in production in just one year. With such growth, the focus has moved to reducing the carbon footprint of this massive system.
The country has already improved desalination efficiency by 80% and cut costs by 50% in recent years. This progress equals nearly four decades of gains achieved in only eight years. These efficiency improvements make retrofitting more practical. Energy optimization creates room for new technologies, including carbon removal units integrated directly into plant operations.
Another opportunity lies in brine mining. Desalination produces large volumes of salt-rich brine as waste. Instead of discharging it, new systems can extract valuable minerals and convert salt residues into inputs for cement production. This turns a waste stream into an industrial resource.
Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure scale makes this opportunity even larger. Water transmission networks stretch over 14,000 kilometers nationwide. Strategic water storage has doubled from 13 million m³ in 2016 to more than 25 million m³ today. Each storage site and pipeline segment represents potential for low-carbon upgrades.
In early 2021 alone, production increased by 60 million m³/day compared to the previous year. At the same time, 42 projects were ongoing, including seven new systems that added 3.678 million m³/day. These projects expand capacity, but they also create a parallel retrofit market.
As desalination accounts for half of national water supply, decarbonizing these assets becomes critical. Retrofitting existing plants is often faster and more cost-effective than building new ones from scratch. Efficiency gains of 80% provide a strong technical base. Lower operating costs make investment in carbon removal more financially attractive.
This is where engineering and contracting firms enter the picture. The Kingdom’s vast installed base of desalination plants, storage facilities, and transmission lines creates a pipeline of upgrade projects. Carbon removal systems, brine extraction modules, energy optimization retrofits, and waste-to-value integration are no longer experimental. They are becoming part of mainstream infrastructure planning.
For specialized engineering companies, this is a multi-million cubic meter opportunity. Aging plants can be upgraded instead of replaced. Brine streams can be converted into cement ingredients. Carbon intensity can be reduced across production and long-distance distribution networks.
The scale is unmatched. Producing over 11 million m³/day and supplying 50% of national water demand means even small efficiency gains translate into significant environmental impact. At the same time, every retrofit contract represents a long-term revenue stream tied to maintenance and performance optimization.
In short, green desalination Saudi Arabia is not just about water. It is about transforming one of the world’s largest desalination systems into a low-carbon industrial platform. The Kingdom has already proven it can scale fast. Now, the focus is on upgrading what already exists.
For engineering firms ready to deliver carbon removal and brine mining solutions, the retrofit wave is just beginning.
Read more: How Sustainable Landscaping Saudi Arabia Cools Cities and Heals the Heat
