Dubai wins bid to host World Desalination Congress

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced that Dubai has won the bid to host the 2019 World Desalination Congress, organised by the International Desalination Association (IDA). Organised by Dubai in 2009, the conference is the largest in the world, with the participation of a select group of leaders, senior officials and academic specialists, and the attendance of more than 2,000 participants from more than 60 countries around the world.

In press statements on the sidelines of a press conference, Saeed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, ​​said that DEWA has succeeded in saving seven times the cost used in desalinating water in Dubai, through the use of “reverse osmosis” technology, stressing that Dubai has become the first city in the world to desalinate water using clean energy.

Al Tayer said that the Authority is conducting a study in coordination with the Ministry of Energy and a number of government agencies on exporting or increasing the exchange of surplus solar energy from one emirate to another, and at the level of the Gulf Cooperation Council, noting that the exchange may become global in the event of a global connection.

The country’s victory, through Dubai hosting this global conference, was considered the culmination of a series of major international events that the UAE hosts successfully, efficiently and competently. It was recently announced that the country won the bid to host the 71st session of the International Astronautical Congress in 2020, the largest of its kind in the world, for the first time in the region.

He added, “Dubai has succeeded, over the past few years, in consolidating its regional and global position, by launching pioneering projects in the clean energy sector, and has also been keen to innovate and find modern methods and technologies to enhance the efficiency of the energy sector and rationalize the consumption of natural resources.”

He stressed that “the Authority has launched several projects to improve effectiveness and efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, which directly contributes to desalinating clean water, as we seek to make Dubai the least carbon footprint in the world by 2050, and achieve the objectives of the Energy and Water Demand Management Strategy to reduce energy and water consumption by 30% by 2030, and the Carbon Emissions Reduction Strategy, which aims to reduce these emissions by about 16% by 2021.”

Al Tayer explained that “DEWA is currently desalinating water through the efficient co-production of energy and water, which relies on using heat generated from electricity production to desalinate water using multi-stage flash distillation technology, which produces about 67% of water without burning fuel, in addition to using reverse osmosis technology to desalinate water, which is a proven and globally approved technology that helps accommodate large production capacities from renewable energy.” He said, “DEWA has developed a clear strategy to ensure that 100% of desalinated water is produced using a mix of clean energy, which combines renewable energy sources and reliance on the use of waste heat by 2030. This will enable Dubai to exceed global targets for using clean energy to desalinate water, taking into account that the total production capacity of desalinated water in Dubai will increase by 2030 to reach 750 million gallons per day, compared to 470 million gallons per day currently.”

Dubai’s winning bid to host this conference came as a result of the fruitful cooperation between the Authority and the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in preparing the hosting file, as the emirate was chosen by the “International Desalination Association” after a careful review of its file and its superiority over global cities, including Barcelona in Spain, Busan in South Korea, and Muscat in Oman.

The International Desalination Association received nominations from eight countries, including, in addition to the above countries: Canada, South Africa, India and Malta.