Desalination & renewable energy training course & workshop [Archives:2005/839/Health]

BY Nazeeh Abdullah
Yemen Times staff
Aden Bureau
A training course and workshop on desalination and renewable energy was held in Aden on 23-28 April, 2005. The event was organized by Yemeni Ministry of Water and Environment in cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Environment and Territory and the UNESCO. At the closing meetings of the event, sponsors and participants issued conclusions and recommendations on the theme of the training course.

The participants welcomed and appreciated the cooperation between the Ministry of Water and Environment of Yemen and the Ministry of Environment and Territory of Italy, and collaboration of UNESCO. The UNESCO was instrumental in the organization of the workshop. We call for furthering this cooperation to implement pilot projects and capacity building projects in Desalination and Renewable Energy. In particular we request UNESCO-Paris to consider supporting the implementation of the follow up of this workshop.

We, the participants of the workshop, also call donors, international and Bilateral Cooperation, UN Organizations , GEF and the World Bank to provide their support. In this regard, the participants recognize Yemen's need for support, particularly in view of the following facts:

– Yemen's water sources situation reveals that annual per capita water availability of 120-150 cubic meters per annum is far below the regional average of 1,250 cubic meters per capita per annum. Uncontrolled groundwater abstraction, of which 90 percent goes to agriculture, is largely responsible for the over exploitation of Yemen's scare water resources. Estimates indicates an annual water deficit of over billion cubic meters/ year. Studies show that the country's 200 mm average annual rainfall is simply insufficient to re-charge age old aquifers and meet the demands of both rural and urban populations. In several critical areas, water tables are dropping by as much as six meters per year. Water quality is also deteriorating due to sea water intrusion in coastal aquifers. As a result of excessive abstraction of groundwater, the imbalance between water demand and water availability poses a real problem for agricultural production in rural areas, threatening the basis of the rural economy. High population growth of 3.05% and a total population of 19.8 million according to the 2004 census adds to the complexity of the problem.

– Full implementation of Integrated Water Source Management is strongly recommended in Yemen, including (i) water reuse e.g. for agriculture to save groundwater resources, (ii) the use of non-conventional water resources e.g. desalination of brackish and seawater to increase available water resources, (iii) campaigns to use water wisely, (iv) full cost recovery and progressive tariff domestic water sector, which is very important because the cost of desalinated water is much higher than groundwater.

– Yemen's “vision 2000-2025” indicates that future economic development will take place in coastal areas of Yemen. It is becoming clear that water quality in coastal areas is deteriorating. It is therefore highly recommended that Yemen should start immediately and gradually with the construction of “pilot” sea water desalination plants mixing the output of these plants with groundwater to improve water quality and enable water corporations not to make high tariff adjustments.

It is strongly recommended to select the most energy efficient desalination technology for brackish and seawater desalination in Yemen. The desalination of brackish water with reverse osmosis membrane technology is more energy efficient than seawater desalination plants, outside the Middle East region, are almost exclusively membrane technology because the energy consumption and the investment costs are lower than for thermal technology.

It is also strongly recommended that the environmental impact of desalination technology, and in particular the disposal concentrate (brine), is carefully assessed. Measures should be taken to ensure that chemical compounds used to control scaling in thermal and membrane systems should be blood biodegradable and non-toxic and that concentrate is diluted with sufficient seawater to avoid upsetting the marine environment.

The participants recognize and endorse that fact the private sector involvement is needed in desalination projects in Yemen. This trend is evident worldwide, as more and more BOT/BOO/BOOT contracts are given for brackish and seawater desalination plants, and these staff can be provided and trained (initially) by the private sector.

Capacity building in desalination and renewable energy at all levels is also urgently required in Yemen. National Research Institution's capacity should be strengthened to support long term national water and energy strategies. In the short term, technicians will need short training courses to become familiar with desalination and renewable energy technology, and technical staff will need to be educated to MSc level in water supply engineering, with emphasis on desalination and renewable energy technology. In addition, staff training in the legal, financial and technical aspects of desalination will be needed to judge potential contracts with the private sector.

The international community is urged to provide additional research and development to make renewable energy more affordable for desalination projects. Nevertheless, the use of renewable energy should be encouraged in Yemen because of the particular characteristics of the country.
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