Saleh Fareed
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH – Saudis have one of the highest rates of water consumption in the whole world, according to an expert who claimed that Saudi residents “disregard the consequences of their water usage.” During his participation of Saudi Power and Water Forum 2013 which concluded Tuesday in Jeddah, Jose Enrique Bofill Maestre, Director Middle East of Aqualia said to the Gazette: “Believe me it is a huge consumption. It is the highest per person because an average bill here in Saudi Arabia costs only SR5 which is nothing unlike in Europe it costs around 50 euros. In that case citizens will not give any care of how much they consume from faucets, showerheads and toilets.”
He said the Spanish company has been in the Kingdom for 4 years and has been focusing on improving the performance of water metal in Riyadh city in order to reduce the leakage of water and increase its efficiency.
Meanwhile, Robert Flaechsig, member of advisory board of the German Seawater Desalination Association said “consumption is a very general list term for a situation caused by an individual and every individual with a sound mind and proper education is always aware of consumption. Therefore, it is a self-responsibility and the government has nothing to do with it but the role of the government is to encourage its citizen to be thoughtful with resources and to be cautious about spending or wasting resources.”
He noted that DME works on the combination of water and clean energy technologies in order to deliver cost effective and sustainable supply solutions for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Ninth Saudi Water and Power Forum 2013, produced by the CWC Group and held in partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Water & Electricity and Moya Bushnak concluded on December 3 by offering, an operational insight into the governmental policies, development and implementation of the upcoming sustainable power technologies.
The last day of the Forum saw critical contributions by the big industry players through a session focused on the topic: Overcoming the Key Challenges and Creating Opportunities for Industry Operators in KSA. Dr Abdullah Al Alshaikh, Deputy Governor for Planning & Development, SWCC played a commendable role as a moderator and leveraged the viewpoints of Abdullah Khalifa Al-Buainain, President & CEO, Marafiq; Yara Anabtawi, Director – Business Development – Renewables, ACWA Power; Dr Naïf Al-Abbadi, Director General, Saudi Energy Efficiency Center (SEEC) and Engr. Beshr J. AlNahdi, Training Center Manager, SWCC, in a result-oriented direction to reach an effective conclusion.
Following this session, sessions on Efficiency Opportunities - Outlining the Route to Successfully Overcoming the Efficiency Challenge in Water & Power and Water Reuse: Providing the Latest in Innovation for the Sustainable Development of Water Resources were also held. Finally, the SWPF this year rounded up with Keynote Closing Panel: The Next Steps for Ensuring Successful Implementation of Targets in a Sustainable & Timely Manner headed by Dr Adil Bushnak, Chairman & CEO, Moya Bushnak and Christopher Gasson, Publisher, Global Water Intelligence.
Dr. Robert Flaechsig, representative of Desertec Power, said “the effective alignment of the technology driven supply concepts like Desertec are highly useful for the KSA’s growing market which is currently experiencing high demand of the water and power utilities and an event like Saudi Water and Power Forum is a perfect platform to highlight it and make the industry aware of the upcoming demand and supply of the required services.”
Gurpreet Hayre, SWPF Event Director, said “this year’s Forum was a huge success and attracted a record number of companies, delegates and visitors. The key challenges to the water and power sectors have been both presented and discussed and we hope attendees will have some valuable takeaways and stakeholders will have reinforced policies which will in turn be implemented.”
“I would like to extend my gratitude to Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al Hussayen, Minister of Water and Electricity, Prince Mishaal Bin Majid Abdulaziz and our key sponsors - ACWA Power, Siemens, GE, Marafiq, Doosan and Alstom, who rendered valuable support to the Forum and actively remained a part of the Forum throughout the three days.” The 9th SWPF, which was attended by over 500 delegates and around 2500 visitors, was exceptionally successful in achieving its aim as it brought all water and power industry segments together under one roof to discuss and promote the technologies for effective energy production within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During various sessions and panel discussions the delegates received a good opportunities to discuss the present and future technologies capable of promoting sustainable power in the Kingdom.
In the coming two decades, the Kingdom is expected to invest over SR700 billion to upgrade power and water production facilities and infrastructure projects to meet 10 percent growth in demand for water and power, as per the evaluation of the SWPF 2013 organizers. Thus, the Forum also featured Technical Seminars which were free for all the delegates and visitors wherein Dr. Mohammad Aljohani, Dean of Nuclear Engineering, King Abdul Aziz University spoke about Integration of Thermal Desalination with New Nuclear Power Generation Projects in Saudi while Andreas Pistauer, Head of Gas Turbines, KSA, Siemens Energy middle East shed light on Advancements in Efficiency and operating flexibility of CCPPS.
The Forum awards ceremony highlights included The SWPF Award for Innovation which was won by DOOSAN, the Marafiq Award for Sustainability was given to IBN ZAHR and Sponsorship Awards were given to Acwa Power, Marafiq, Doosan, Alstom, Siemens and GE.
