RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corp. has achieved a remarkable milestone in water security by increasing its water production capacity to 11.5 million cubic meters a day, making it the world’s largest producer of desalinated water.

According to its second annual sustainability report released on Thursday, the state-run institution accomplished this feat in line with its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 37 million tons by the end of 2025.

“We are proud of our contribution to the Saudi Green Initiative as we achieved high performance levels, while managing our costs, energy consumption and carbon emissions appropriately,” said SWCC Gov. Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Abdulkarim, in the forward of the sustainability report.

The report discussed the innovative solutions, methods and approaches the company pursued to achieve excellence within its established strategy, especially aspects related to governance structure, communication with stakeholders and environmental, economic and social sustainability.

The report also highlighted key transformation aspects, including transferring SWCC’s production, transportation and storage assets to Public Investment Fund-owned Water Solutions Co, allowing it to continue innovating and expanding globally to meet the increasing demand for urban water use.

WSC will also participate in future tenders for desalination projects in the Kingdom, in line with the approval of the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture.

‏Furthermore, the report described the current performance of SWCC and its efforts to improve operations efficiently by adopting concepts and material topics consistent with the goals and programs of the sustainable development goals, which aim to ensure the highest levels of transparency in activities and operations.

“We have established an infrastructure of pipeline networks to ensure the delivery of water to all areas near and far, and we continuously develop our business methods to prevent any interruption of our services,” the report stated.

According to the report, Saudi Arabia is classified as one of the most water-scarce nations on the planet. Due to the lack of fresh water in the Kingdom, seawater desalination has become a vital solution to meet the increasing demand.

As a result, SWCC’s main role includes supplying water to the cities and provinces of Saudi Arabia, as well as meeting the water needs of Makkah and Madinah during the Haj and Umrah seasons.

SWCC runs 30 desalination plants with a production capacity of approximately 7.5 million cubic meters per day and 139 purification stations with a total of about 4 million m3 per day, supported by a team of over 9,000 employees.