Protecting Water Through Desalination: From the Persian Gulf to the World

Behind these figures lies a clear strategy: investments exceeding 50 billion dollars over the past two decades, which could reach 100 billion by 2030.

The Webuild Group has contributed to the development of this technology. Through its subsidiary Fisia Italimpianti, it has taken part in the construction of some of the world’s major desalination plants, particularly across the Arabian Peninsula. It is here—between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait—that the company has built a significant share of its infrastructure, helping to make some of the most arid areas on the planet habitable.

This is a long-standing presence. Fisia has been operating in the Middle East since the 1980s and has delivered more than 30 projects in the region, developing a total production capacity of around 4.8 million cubic metres of desalinated water per day—enough to serve more than 20 million people. This figure reflects the industrial scale of these infrastructure projects: not isolated plants, but a widespread system supporting entire urban economies in the desert.

One of the most emblematic cases is the Shoaiba 3 Expansion II plant, on the western coast of Saudi Arabia. Here, reverse osmosis technology enables the production of up to 250,000 cubic metres of drinking water per day, ensuring water supply to over one million people in the cities of Jeddah, Mecca, and Taif.

It is a water infrastructure that directly transforms the sea into a daily resource, with an immediate impact on life in one of the country’s most densely populated areas.

The Group’s strong presence in the Persian Gulf is also reflected in other flagship projects, such as Jebel Ali M in the United Arab Emirates. At the time of its construction, it was the largest plant in the country, capable of producing vast volumes of water to support Dubai’s urban growth.

In a context where natural water is virtually non-existent, desalination plants represent the very condition for development.

Beyond the Persian Gulf: The World Turns Its Attention to Desalination

What is happening in the Persian Gulf is not an exception, but rather a preview of a global trend.

Over the past fifty years, desalination capacity has increased more than fiftyfold, reaching a current production of around 70.8 billion gallons per day. Between 150 and 200 million people worldwide already depend on this technology, and growth shows no sign of slowing: by 2030, capacity could double, driven by rising water demand, which is expected to increase by 25% by mid-century.

From California to Spain, from Israel to Australia, desalination plants are becoming a structural component of water policy. No longer an emergency solution, but a fully-fledged infrastructure system.

And like all infrastructure, they bring complex challenges. The first is energy-related: producing water from the sea requires massive amounts of energy, so much so that in the Middle East, desalination accounts for up to 5% of total electricity consumption.

This is where the new technological challenge lies. Reverse osmosis, now dominant and responsible for about 70% of global capacity, has drastically reduced energy consumption compared to the thermal systems of the past.

At the same time, integration with renewable energy is increasing. In the United Arab Emirates, some plants already use significant shares of solar power, while more advanced projects aim for near-zero-impact systems. In this field too, Italian engineering plays a significant role.

In this context, the security alarm raised in the Persian Gulf takes on a broader meaning. It does not concern only one region, but foreshadows a global issue: the protection of water infrastructure.

In a world where water stress is set to intensify and entire regions may reach critical conditions by 2050, water is becoming a strategic security factor, on a par with electricity. And protecting water today means protecting the future.