The National Science Agency of Saudi Arabia proposes to build solar energy based desalination plants in the country. The move is aimed to mitigate water and energy costs by 40% and to reduce environmental pollution. Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said that desalination is the country’s strategic choice to supply an adequate amount of drinking water to people across the Kingdom, but that shifting focus on renewable resources to achieve that is paramount. Saudi Arabi consumes approximately 1.5 million bps of oil at the desalination plants around the country and the prices of desalinated water are also increasing. It is hoped that the use of solar based desalination plants can significantly reduce costs to the end user.
