In July 2020, Khaleej Times reported, citing the Abu Dhabi Media Office, that the emirate was building the world's largest desalination plant at the Al Taweelah Power and Water Complex. Completion of the 909,200 m³ per day plant was expected in 2022. The Department of Energy was drafting new water policies. Nine plants produced around 1.3 billion m³ a year and also served Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain and Sharjah. In 2019, 67 percent of drinking water came from multi-stage flash, 17 percent from MED and 16 percent from reverse osmosis.
The report showed Abu Dhabi in the middle of a technology shift: thermal processes still clearly dominated, while the new plant hinted at the scale of the reverse osmosis projects to come in the Gulf.
Source: Khaleej Times