Saudi Arabia plans to build nine new desalination plants at an investment of $530m, according to The Saudi Gazette. The report noted that the nine plants will have a combined production capacity of 240,000 cubic metres of water per day and will be built on the Red Sea coast.

The news report, which cited Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli – Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture – said that the project was ordered by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman. A royal decree was issued with the focus of helping government-owned Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corp (SWCC) raise production efficiency and cut operating and capital costs.

At the end of 2017, the SWCC said it raised its desalinated water production capacity to five million cubic metres per day to address growing demands within the Kingdom. As per current records, the Kingdom is already the largest producer of desalinated water in the world.

Details have yet to be shared with regards to how the projects will be funded, however authorities in the Kingdom said in 2016 that the government would use public-private partnerships (PPP) with local and foreign companies to fund infrastructure projects.