MENA DESALINATION PROJECTS

THE LARGEST DESALINATION CONFERENCE
& EXPO IN THE REGION

  • 4-5 March 2024
  • Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers, UAE
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Discover pipeline of desalinations projects worth USD 25.5 billion in the MENA region

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ABOUT THE EVENT

The 5th MENA Desalination Projects Forum, which is scheduled on 4-5 March 2024 at Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers, United Arab Emirates, is the largest government-endorsed regional desalination conference. It brings together over 400 regional and international stakeholders from the government, consulting, contracting, and technology sectors to discuss the way forward for the region’s desalination industry, key upcoming mega projects, and national sustainability visions driving the region’s 2030 water agendas.

The Forum features a world-class exhibition, technical workshops, and cutting-edge conference program which looks at how the region’s leaders could overcome key challenges of water scarcity, ensure sufficient water supply for their growing population, and explore the latest solutions that could enable sustainable and environment-friendly water desalination. The speaker panel include government decision-makers and international industry experts who will showcase the latest technologies and global best practices and share their knowledge and expertise with the participants.

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ADVISORS 2023

Dr. Hussein El-Atfy

Secretary General, 
Arab Water Council (AWC)

Eng. Adel Yasin

Director General of Strategic Planning Directorate,
Palestinian Water Authority

Charafat Afilal

Advisor and Former Minister of Water,
Moroccan National Company of Drinking Water and Sanitation

Corrado Sommariva

Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Water and Power Consultants (SWPC),
United Arab Emirates

Dr. Hana’a Muheisen

Head of Research and Development section,
Water Authority of Jordan

Dr. Mohamed Dawoud

Advisor for Water Resources, Environment Quality,
Abu Dhabi Environment Agency

CHAIRMAN

Imteyaz Ahmad

Managing Director
Power and Water, Future Water and Power Consulting,
United Arab Emirates

Corrado Sommariva

Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Water and Power Consultants (SWPC),
United Arab Emirates

SPEAKERS

Prof. Dr. Abdelkawi Khalifa

member of AWC Board of Governors,
Former Minister of drinking water and Wastewater Utilities Egypt Arabic Republic of Egypt

Eng. Adel Yasin

Director General of Strategic Planning Directorate,
Palestinian Water Authority

Eng. Nayef Al-Arifi

Projects Executive Director, Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC),
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Dr. Hasan Al Abdulgader

Director, Produced Water Treatment R&D Program,
Saudi Aramco

Mark Hedges

Executive Director, Asset Management,
Emirates Water and Electricity Company,
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Aftab Raza

CEO, FynValue – Energy, Utilities and Finance Consulting & Senior Advisor Regulatory Affairs at Department of Energy,
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Turki Al Shehri

CEO,
ENGIE,
Saudi Arabia

Álvaro Solana Cruz

Regional Director
Middle East & Asia, Abengoa,
United Arab Emirates

Abdullah Bhayo

Project Director, Worley & Jacobs Construction,
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Dr. Corrado Sommariva

Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Water and Power Consultants (SWPC),
United Arab Emirates

Dr. Hana’a Muheisen

Head of Research and Development section, Water Authority of Jordan,
Jordan

Dr. Hebah Abbas

Chief Specialist Electrical Engineer, Technical Advisor and Head of Sustainability Committee at Kuwait Water Association, Ministry of Education,
Kuwait & Kuwait Water Association, Kuwait

Imteyaz Ahmad

Managing Director
Power and Water, Future Water and Power Consulting,
United Arab Emirates

Julio De La Rosa Jurado

ME Managing Director, Acciona Agua,
United Arab Emirates

Luay Khdeir

Regional Water Market Director, Atkins Global,
United Arab Emirates

Dr. Mohamed Dawoud

Advisor for Water Resources, Environment Quality, Abu Dhabi Environment Agency,
United Arab Emirates

Dr. Youssef Brouziyne

Regional Representative & CGIAR Water System Lead, MENA Region,
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Ahmed Abd El Hady Mohamed Badr

Chief of Water and Wastewater Quality Complaints Sector in General Department for Quality and Environmental Affairs, Holding Company for Water & Wastewater (HCWW), Egypt

Abdel Moneim Mohamed Elrefai

Director of Management Internal Control Sector Banque Misr, Egypt

Nadia M. Abdel Salam Eshra

Head of Hydropower Unit
Ministry of Water Resources
Egypt & National Water Research Center

Esam Almulla

Manager Of Water Desalination Plants, Water Desalination, Sharjah Electricity (SEWA), Water and Gas Authority, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Rory Weaver

Director of Marketing & Business Development,
FEDCO

Oren Heymans

Senior Account Manager,
Entegris

Bilal Kadri

Director, Service and Aftermarket,
Energy Recovery, Inc

Diego de Vera

Global Business Development Director,
GS Inima Environment

Krishnan Sadasivam

Global Growth Officer- Water,
Envirosuite

Belen Gutierrez

Head of Desalination,
GS Inima Environment

Denis Funk

Head of Market Management for Power Generation & Water,
Flexim
CONFERENCE & EXPO

AGENDA

Time
Activity
08:00 – 09:00 Networking and Registration
09:00 – 09:05 Welcome remarks from Great Minds Group – Lulu Banat, Conference Director
09:05 – 09:15 Welcome note by conference chairman – Imteyaz Ahmad, Managing Director, Power and Water, Future Water and Power Consulting, United Arab Emirates 
09:15 – 10:15 Opening panel: Reshaping MENA region’s vision for water security and sustainable development with desalination
  • Looking at the long-term water opportunities to generate freshwater
  • Implementing policies to reduce the wastage of water and increasing the production of water with latest desalination technologies
  • Stressing on reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), associated with water desalination process by using renewable green energy
  • Discussing the upcoming sustainable key projects in the region and the investment plans
Panelists:
  • Prof. Dr. Abdelkawi Khalifa, member of AWC Board of Governors, Former Minister of drinking water and Wastewater Utilities Egypt Arabic Republic of Egypt
  • Charafat Afilal, Advisor and Former Minister of Water, Moroccan National Company of Drinking Water and Sanitation
  • Eng. Naif Al-Arifi, Projects Executive Director, Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Turki Al Shehri, Chief Executive Officer, ENGIE, Saudi Arabia
  • Diego de Vera, Global Business Development Director, GS Inima Environment
Moderator:
  • Dr. Hebah Abbas – Chief Specialist Electrical Engineer, Technical Advisor and Head of Sustainability Committee at Kuwait Water Association, Ministry of Education, Kuwait & Kuwait Water Association, Kuwait
10:15 – 10:30 Industry insight one: The customized selection of pre-RO filters for process optimization and cost reduction
  • Insights on filtration and its challenges
  • Importance of particle size monitoring to measure real filter performance
  • See how the right filtration solution can optimize your process and generate overall savings
Speaker:
  • Oren Heymans, Senior Account Manager, Entegris
10:30: 10:45 Industry insight two: Rory Weaver, Director of Marketing & Business Development, FEDCO
10:45 – 11:30 Coffee and networking break
11:30 – 11:50 Industry expert presentation one: Offering a sustainable method/solution to increase supply of potable water in the MENA countries
  • Discussing usage of smart water management systems to reduce waste from water-intensive industries
  • Working on more renewable energy powered desalination
  • Tapping on the only increasing natural resource i.e., wastewater which increase with growing population
Speaker:
  • Dr. Hebah Abbas, Chief Specialist Electrical Engineer, Technical Advisor and Head of Sustainability Committee at Kuwait Water Association, Ministry of Education, Kuwait & Kuwait Water Association, Kuwait
11:50 – 12:35 Panel discussion two: Application of digital solutions for res-driven desalination processes for site selection, energy prediction, desalination process selection, and parameter optimization
  • Unleashing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for energy optimisation in the desalination processes for efficient production of freshwater and reduction of cost
  • Improving the desalination infra with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) which has large number of sensors deployed on them to produce a huge and voluminous apt data
  • Building intelligent asset management systems into the processes like micro-metering, geo-spatial system (GIS), digital twin and SCADAs to integrate and organise generated data for real-time decision making
  • Liberating and democratising data and making it more accessible with 5G by connecting millions of on-premise devices
Panelists:
  • Abdullah Bhayo, Project Director, Worley & Jacobs Construction, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • Dr. Hana’a Muheisen, Head of Research and Development Section, Water Authority of Jordan, Jordan
  • Krishnan Sadasivam, Global Growth Officer- Water, Envirosuite
Moderator:
  • Álvaro Solana Cruz, Regional Director Middle East and Asia, Abengoa, United Arab Emirates
12:35 – 13:00 Industry insight three: Developments in Morocco on water projects and desalination plants
13:00 – 13:45 Panel discussion three: Discussing the benefits and constraints associated with desalination technologies for agriculture, industrial, and other purposes
  • Exploring new technologies that are essential to improve the availability and quality of water supplies for usage by different sectors
  • Producing water at lower energy costs, reduced labour costs and civil works
  • Emphasising on decreasing the cost by scaling up the capacity
  • Treating moving water with pre-treatment methods and technologies
Panelists:
  • Dr. Mohamed Dawoud – Advisor for Water Resources, Environment Quality, Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, United Arab Emirates
  • Eng. Adel Yasin, Director General of Strategic Planning Directorate, Palestinian Water Authority, Palestine
  • Dr. Youssef Brouziyne, Regional Representative & CGIAR Water System Lead, MENA Region, International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
  • Luay Khdeir, Regional Water Market Director, Atkins Global, United Arab Emirates
Moderator:
  • Corrado Sommariva, Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Water and Power Consultants (SWPC), United Arab Emirates
13:45 – 14:00 Industry expert presentation two: Financial and legal feasibility of a desalination project
  • Learning financing of desalination projects under the legal framework of the region
  • Exploring procurement and risk allocation solutions under the expert guidance of the local authorities
  • Discussing risks associated with the development and management of desalination infrastructure
Speaker:
  • Corrado Sommariva, Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Water and Power Consultants (SWPC), United Arab Emirates
14:00 – 14:10 Closing remarks by conference chairman
14:15 Lunch break and end of conference day one 
Time
Activity
08:00 – 09:00 Networking and registration
09:00 – 09:15 Review of day one by conference chairman – Corrado Sommariva – Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Water and Power Consultants (SWPC), United Arab Emirates
09:15 – 09:30 Opening keynote session two: Eng. Naif Al-Arifi, Projects Executive Director, Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
09:30 – 10:00 Fireside chat: Driving towards a sustainable desalination strategy for water scarce economies
  • Desalination opportunities for produced water in Saudi Aramco
  • Role of desalination in an increasingly water scarce economy for long term freshwater supply
  • Controlling the negative environmental impacts like CO2 and greenhouse emissions
  • Discussing new and smart technology that will help in reducing the high-cost processes involved
Speaker:
  • Dr. Hasan Al Abdulgader, Director, Produced Water Treatment R&D Program, Saudi Aramco
Moderator:
  • Imteyaz Ahmad – Managing Director – Power and Water, Future Water and Power Consulting, United Arab Emirates
10:00 – 10:15 Industry insight one: Bilal Kadri, Director, Service and Aftermarket, Energy Recovery, Inc
10:15 – 10:30 Industry insight two: An Innovative Process for Circular Economy
  • Need for more sustainable processes
  • FOWE Project:  a change of vision in the design, planning and management of resources
Speaker:
  • Belen Gutierrez, Head of Desalination, GS Inima Environment
10:30 – 11:15 Coffee and networking break
11:15 – 11:30 Industry expert project presentation three: Developments in Egypt on water projects Speaker:
  • Ahmed Abd El Hady Mohamed Badr – Chief of Water and Wastewater Quality Complaints Sector in General Department for Quality and Environmental Affairs, Holding Company for Water & Wastewater (HCWW), Egypt
11:30 – 11:45 Industry expert project presentation four: Updates on the development of EWEC water expansion plans across the emirate
Speaker:
  • Mark Hedges, Executive Director, Asset Management, Emirates Water and Electricity Company, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
11:45 – 12:30 Panel discussion four: Market drivers for increased adoption of desalination technologies in the non-conventional water resources category
  • Discussing the alternative desalination technology like solvent extraction method, capacitive deionization of saltwater
  • Exploring the increase in the investments of solar energy sector for effective cost reduction
  • Growing interest in hydroponic agriculture to drive adoption of desalination
  • Lowering of oxygen content in water
Panelist:
  • Charafat Afilal, Advisor and Former Minister of Water, Moroccan National Company of Drinking Water and Sanitation
  • Abdel Moneim Mohamed Elrefai – Director of management internal control sector Banque Misr, Egypt
  • Mark Hedges, Executive Director, Asset Management, Emirates Water and Electricity Company, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • Esam Almulla, Manager Of Water Desalination Plants, Water Desalination, Sharjah Electricity (SEWA), Water and Gas Authority, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Moderator:
  • Julio De La Rosa Jurado – ME Managing Director, Acciona Agua, United Arab Emirates
12:30 – 12:45 Industry insight three: Denis Funk, Head of Market Management for Power Generation & Water, Flexim
12:45 – 13:30 Closing panel: Discussing next wave of growth opportunities in the field of desalination
  • Driving adoption of desalination due to growing interest of hydroponic agriculture in the MENA region
  • Steering wind energy-based desalination due to developments in renewable energy storage
  • Reviewing the emerging desalination technologies in the field of financial solutions and investments
Panelist:
  • Nadia M. Abdel Salam Eshra – Head of Hydropower Unit, Ministry of Water Resources, Egypt & National Water Research Center, Egypt
  • Aftab Raza – CEO, FynValue – Energy, Utilities and Finance Consulting and Senior Advisor Regulatory Affairs at Department of Energy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • Dr. Youssef Brouziyne, Regional Representative & CGIAR Water System Lead, MENA Region, International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
Moderator:
  • Corrado Sommariva, Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Water and Power Consultants (SWPC), United Arab Emirates
13:45 – 14:00 Closing Remarks by Conference Chairman
14:15 Lunch Break and End of Conference Day Two
WHO

ATTENDED IN 2023

Participants that attended the 3rd MENA Desalination Projects

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WHY GET INVOLVED

Get in front of
your target market

Get access to key stakeholders involved with ongoing and upcoming water projects in their respective countries

Gain project
insights

Get first-hand details on timelines and requirements of current desalination projects from across the region and spot opportunities

Raise your
brand awareness

Opportunity to position your brand as one of the leading desalination service providers to help stakeholders and project owners overcome the key issues in water management

Increase your competitiveness

Learn about the latest challenges faced by the region’s water management authorities and identify how you can provide them with customized solutions to help overcome these challenges

Generate strong
leads

Learn about desalination requirements of the top entities across the MENA region and influence decision makers to stand a chance of being shortlisted for their upcoming projects in their regions

2023 SPONSORS

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Official Disinfection Partner

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Panel Sponsor

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Project Intelligence Partner

2023 Media PARTNERS

PARTNERS
2023

Partnership Opportunities

We are looking for seawater intake and outfall systems, reverse osmosis & membranes, filtration, energy efficiency/energy consumption, chemicals/water additives, pre-treatment systems & post-treatment system, services to reduce capex/opex, boilers (groundwater, hazard, & risk) that can contribute to the desalination plants requirements in the Middle East. If you believe you have what we are looking for, please contact us at partnerships@gmevents.ae or call +971 4 568 7800

Floor Plan

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REGISTER FOR 2023

Online event registrations are now closed. You may purchase your ticket at the event registration counter on the 1st day of the event. Please refer to the agenda for timings.
Ticket Options
I will attend the physical event: Ministries & government authorities – $99 + 5% tax = $104.0
I will attend the physical event: Solution provider – ($2,799 + 5% tax = $2938.95)

Event Venue

  • Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers, UAE
  • 4 - 5 March 2024