Abstract
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi heavily relies on seawater desalination for its freshwater needs due to limited available resources. This trend is expected to increase further because of the growing population and economic activity, the rapid decline in limited freshwater reserves, and the aggravating effects of climate change. Seawater desalination in Abu Dhabi is currently done through thermal desalination technologies, such as multi-stage flash (MSF) and multi-effect distillation (MED), coupled with thermal power plants, which is known as co-generation. These thermal desalination methods are together responsible for more than 90% of the desalination capacity in the Emirate. Our analysis indicates that these thermal desalination methods are inefficient regarding energy consumption and harmful to the environment due to CO2 emissions and other dangerous byproducts. The rapid decline in the cost of solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems for energy production and reverse osmosis (RO) technology for desalination makes a combination of these two an ideal option for a sustainable desalination future in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. A levelized cost of water (LCW) study of a solar PV + RO system indicates that Abu Dhabi is well-positioned to utilize this technological combination for cheap and clean desalination in the coming years. Countries in the Sunbelt region with a limited freshwater capacity similar to Abu Dhabi may also consider the proposed system in this study for sustainable desalination.
Highlights
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is among the seven Emirates which formed The United Arab Emirates (UAE) located in the south-eastern part of The Arabian Peninsula
Seawater desalination will play a significant role in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the coming years due to the growing population and economic activity in the face of declining freshwater resources
Sustainable desalination of seawater regarding a clean energy resource and economical technology option is a must for Abu Dhabi to meet its vision 2030 targets
Summary
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is among the seven Emirates which formed The United Arab Emirates (UAE) located in the south-eastern part of The Arabian Peninsula. Abu Dhabi is known to hold a significant amount of oil and gas reserves [1]. Discovery of the oil and gas reserves in the 1960s has propelled The Emirate into a rapid development path which resulted in an exponential increase in population and economic activity [1]. The freshwater need of Abu Dhabi has been increased along this rapid development path which brought the need for seawater desalination. It is clear that Abu Dhabi is no different than the rest of the Arabian Peninsula, which is painted in red color due to excessive depletion of freshwater resources
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