In May 2016, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported, citing the portal Utilities-me.com, that a small 50 m³/day desalination unit in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai was close to launch. It was to use reverse osmosis fed by a solar array. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, head of DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority), inspected the unit. The scheme served research by the UAE Water Foundation (Suqia) and DEWA on solar-made drinking water for poor countries.
The report reflected growing Gulf interest in running desalination directly on solar power, here first at trial scale inside a large solar park.