From AI-powered desalination plants to renewable energy integration and smart water networks, the Middle East is redefining how it thinks about water security. As climate risks mount and demand accelerates, governments are investing not only in producing freshwater, but in building resilient systems that can withstand future shocks.
Here, Julio de la Rosa, chief development officer for the water business in the Middle East and Southeast Asia at ACCIONA, discusses why the next chapter of water infrastructure will be shaped by digital technologies, sustainability and long-term resilience.
Several recent reports have raised concerns about the Gulf’s heavy reliance on desalination. Do you believe these concerns are overstated, or do they expose genuine vulnerabilities that governments and utilities should be preparing for?
Every critical infrastructure deserves continuous assessment, and desalination is no exception. However, I believe it is important to distinguish between dependence and vulnerability. The Gulf relies heavily on desalination because it has very limited conventional freshwater resources, but over the past decades the region has built one of the world’s most sophisticated water infrastructures.
Today’s desalination plants are designed with multiple layers of resilience: operational redundancies, interconnected transmission networks, strategic water storage, and increasingly advanced digital monitoring systems. Governments and utilities are already preparing for potential risks through diversification of supply sources, investment in wastewater reuse, renewable energy integration, and cybersecurity.
Rather than viewing desalination as a weakness, I see it as a strategic asset that continues to evolve and secure the supply of potable water. The focus should be on continuously strengthening resilience rather than questioning the technology itself.
Water security is increasingly being discussed alongside food security and energy security. How has the conversation around desalination and water resilience evolved in the Middle East over the past five years?
The conversation has shifted significantly. Five years ago, the emphasis was primarily on increasing production capacity to meet growing demand. Today, the discussion is much broader and more strategic.
Water is now recognised as a fundamental pillar of national resilience, closely linked to economic diversification, industrial development, food production and climate adaptation. Governments are no longer asking only how much water can be produced, but also how efficiently, sustainably and securely it can be managed throughout the entire water cycle.
This has accelerated investment not only in desalination, but also in digital water management, reuse, smart distribution networks and renewable-powered infrastructure. The region is increasingly adopting an integrated approach to water security rather than focusing on individual assets.
Reverse osmosis has transformed the economics of desalination. What do you see as the next major technological breakthrough that could further improve efficiency, affordability, and sustainability?
Reverse osmosis will continue to improve, particularly through advances in membrane materials, energy recovery devices and process optimisation. However, I believe the next breakthrough will come from the combination of digital technologies with physical infrastructure.
Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and digital twins are already enabling operators to optimise energy consumption, anticipate maintenance needs and maximise plant performance in real time. These technologies improve both efficiency and reliability while reducing operating costs.
At the same time, innovations in brine management, resource recovery and low-carbon energy integration will further enhance the environmental sustainability of desalination. The future is not about one disruptive technology but about intelligently combining multiple innovations.
Climate change is expected to intensify water stress across the region. How are desalination plants being designed today to withstand rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and growing demand?
Climate resilience is becoming a core design principle rather than an additional consideration.
Modern desalination plants are engineered to operate under increasingly challenging environmental conditions, including higher seawater temperatures, changing water quality, sandstorms and more frequent extreme weather events. Greater operational flexibility, redundancy and modularity allow plants to maintain reliable production under varying conditions.
Equally important is the integration of strategic storage, network interconnections and advanced monitoring systems that enable operators to respond quickly to unexpected events. Climate adaptation is no longer limited to infrastructure design; it also includes smarter operational management supported by digital technologies.
As desalination plants become increasingly digital and AI-enabled, how significant is the cybersecurity challenge, and what measures are needed to safeguard critical water infrastructure?
Cybersecurity has become one of the key priorities for critical infrastructure worldwide, and the water sector is no exception.
The growing digitalisation of desalination plants brings enormous operational benefits, but it also requires a robust cybersecurity framework. This involves secure industrial control systems, continuous monitoring, regular software updates, strict access management and comprehensive incident response protocols.
Equally important is collaboration between operators, technology providers and governments to establish common standards and share best practices. Cyber resilience should be considered an integral part of operational resilience rather than a separate discipline.
The integration of renewable energy into desalination is gaining momentum across the Gulf. How close are we to producing freshwater at scale using predominantly renewable energy, and what challenges remain?
We are much closer than many people realise. Several projects already combine reverse osmosis with renewable electricity, particularly solar power, and this trend will continue to accelerate as renewable generation becomes increasingly competitive.
The main challenge is not the desalination technology itself but ensuring reliable and continuous energy supply despite the variability of renewable generation. This requires flexible grid management, energy storage solutions and careful optimisation between electricity production and water demand.
In the long term, I am confident that renewable-powered desalination will become the dominant model, contributing simultaneously to water security and decarbonisation objectives. The rapid evolution and declining cost of battery energy storage systems (BESS) will be a game changer, making round-the-clock renewable-powered desalination increasingly viable.
Beyond desalination, how important are wastewater reuse, smart water networks, leak detection, and demand management in strengthening the region’s long-term water security?
They are essential. Water security cannot rely on production alone. A resilient water system requires optimising every drop throughout the entire cycle. Wastewater reuse provides an additional sustainable resource, particularly for irrigation and industrial applications. Smart networks and leak detection reduce non-revenue water and improve operational efficiency, while demand management helps ensure that valuable water resources are used responsibly.
The most resilient countries will not necessarily be those that produce the most water, but those that manage it most intelligently.
Public-private partnerships have played a major role in expanding desalination capacity across the Middle East. What lessons can other water-stressed regions learn from the Gulf’s approach?
The Gulf has demonstrated that long-term vision, regulatory stability and strong collaboration between the public and private sectors can accelerate infrastructure development while maintaining high standards of efficiency and reliability.
Clear procurement frameworks, transparent risk allocation and a commitment to technological innovation have created an environment where both governments and private investors can deliver complex projects successfully.
Many water-stressed regions could benefit from adopting similar collaborative models, adapted to their own regulatory and economic contexts.
Water demand continues to rise alongside rapid urbanisation and industrial growth. Is the region investing quickly enough to stay ahead of future demand?
The region has demonstrated remarkable commitment to investing in water infrastructure, and many countries have ambitious expansion programmes already underway.
However, demand is evolving rapidly, driven by population growth, industrialisation and new sectors such as green hydrogen, advanced manufacturing and data centres, which, by the way, also require a lot of water. Maintaining a comfortable margin between supply and demand will require continued investment, long-term planning and faster deployment of new infrastructure.
The challenge is not simply building more capacity but ensuring that future systems are more efficient, flexible and sustainable.
Looking ahead to 2035, what will define true leadership in water security? Will it be the countries with the largest desalination capacity, or those with the most diversified, digitally connected, and climate-resilient water systems?
Capacity will always matter, but by 2035 true leadership will be defined by resilience rather than volume.
As our chairman, José Manuel Entrecanales, said recently at ACCIONA’s Annual General Meeting, “infrastructure is no longer simply a driver of growth; it has become critical to strategic sovereignty and social cohesion.” I believe nowhere is that more evident than in water. Water infrastructure has become a strategic asset, essential not only for economic development but also for national resilience and long-term stability.
The leading countries will be those that successfully combine desalination, wastewater reuse, renewable energy, smart distribution networks, digital technologies and effective water governance into a fully integrated system.
Water security is becoming increasingly interconnected with energy, climate and economic resilience. The countries that embrace this integrated vision, and continue investing in innovation and collaboration will be the ones best positioned to meet future challenges.
Ultimately, success will not be measured simply by how much water a country can produce, but by how reliably, sustainably and efficiently it can deliver that water under any circumstances.
