Good? Rationale for Public Funding? Universities or Research Centers? ... reduction of leakage losses ? overcapacity. â« Algeria and Jordan: efforts to reduce ...
Desalination: Recent Trends and the Role of the World Bank
Including the Main Findings of a Regional Study on Desalination in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia By Manuel Schiffler, Sr. Economist, WB
Overview n n n n n n n n n
Background The Regional Desalination Study Overview of Desalination Processes Costs Environmental Impact The Need for Capacity Building Country Experiences Making the best use of desalination Desalination and The World Bank
Background n n n n
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2.4bn people (39% of world population) live in coastal areas 1.2bn people in developing countries lack access to clean water The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) call for universal access to clean water by 2025 Currently only 3% of global drinking water is supplied through desalinated water, concentrated in developed countries and in the Arab Gulf countries What role for desalination in achieving the MDGs? 2.7bn people live on less than US$2 per day. Can they afford desalinated seawater?
The Regional Study (1) n n
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Funded by the Bank-Netherlands Partnership Program; executed by DHV Draft completed; executive summary about to be published; full study to be published in mid-2004 Objective: to improve the understanding of desalination among Bank staff and its clients Helping to bridge the gap between the desalination community and the wider water community?
The Regional Study (2) n n n n n n
Broad coverage (institutional, economic, financial, environmental and technical) Small-scale and large-scale plants Seawater and brackish water desalination Core Countries: Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia and Uzbekistan Reference Countries: Cyprus and Malta Gulf excluded
Desalination Processes n Distillation
Technologies (MSF/MED): Predominant in Gulf, co-generation of electricity and water n Membrane Technologies: Reverse Osmosis (RO) emerges as leading technology; Electrodialysis n Other processes not yet competitive
Costs n n
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Costs have decreased significantly, especially for RO Financial costs depend on plant size, raw water quality, energy costs and terms of financing Costs for large RO seawater desalination plants are in the order of US$ 0.45-0.80/m3 In many cases, these costs are similar to incremental conventional bulk water supplies which often involve inter-basin transfers
Environmental Impact n n
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Most important impact is from brine discharge, esp. for inland brackish water plants Need for strategic environmental impact assessments that consider cumulative impacts from various sources in one region Additional energy use contributes to emission of greenhouse gases, but energy intensity of desalination has come down Positive impacts through avoidance of environmentally harmful use of alternative conventional resources Overall, local environmental impacts can be mitigated, usually at low costs
The Need for Capacity Building n n
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Ministries: Investment Planning and Sequencing; Technology Assessment Capacity Utilities: Strengthen operational capacities or contract operation out to the private sector (BOTs, service and management contracts) Local and Regional Private Sector: Role as operators and consultants, but also as manufacturers and contractors? Research and Development: Private or Public Good? Rationale for Public Funding? Universities or Research Centers?
Country Experiences (1) Core Countries n
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Cyprus and Tunisia: careful planning and evaluation of various supply options; utility recovers costs and has low unaccounted-for water (20%); cross-subsidies from tourism and industry Uzbekistan: appropriate technology for brackish water under conditions of lack of access to foreign exchange; but: an important donor suggests to introduce RO, which is locally inappropriate.
Country Experiences (2) Core Countries (cont.) n n
Malta: Desalination plants built, then reduction of leakage losses ? overcapacity Algeria and Jordan: efforts to reduce leakage are underway, but with limited results so far (UFW ~50%), while substantial investments in new bulk supply – including desalination – are underway or planned, especially in Algeria.
Country Experiences (3) Non-core countries n n
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Gulf countries: Bulk water provided for free or at a very low rate to utilities; over-investment? Libya: some desalination plants fell in disrepair; desalination may be an alternative to fossil groundwater transfers from the Sahara Israel: Large seawater desalination program approved; could release conventional water for agriculture, environmental instream flows or regional water sharing. Spain: Seawater desalination for high -value irrigation – thanks to subsidies!
Making the best use of desalination n n n n
Need to sequence UFW reduction and supply management appropriately Need for appropriate end user tariffs Seawater desalination should not be used to free up water resources for more irrigation BOTs are the most common form of PSP for desalination. But is there a risk of overcapacity?
Desalination and The World Bank (1) n n n n
The Framework: Infrastructure Action Plan and the Water Resources Strategy Limited prior Bank experience Safeguards: Environmental Assessments Instruments: Lending, Guarantees, technical assistance, capacity building (WBI); IFC
Desalination and The World Bank (2) n n
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No preference for or bias against specific technologies In all regions of the world there are plans for desalination or it is being used – it’s not only MENA! (Mexico, Brazil, Caribbean, South Africa, Senegal, Singapore etc.) etc.) Limited institutional capacity and limited ability to pay in LDCs: Argues for modest investments in parallel with capacity building
