DUBAI: In a region long defined by oil wealth, a new resource rush is unfolding, not for petroleum, but for digital power. Across the Gulf, an explosion in artificial intelligence development and cloud infrastructure is placing a strain on another resource in even shorter supply — water.
“Data centres in the GCC strain scarce water resources, consuming 15 billion liters in Saudi Arabia alone in 2024,” Javier Alvarez, senior managing director of technology, media, and telecom at FTI Consulting, told Arab News.
“In a region reliant on desalination, this intensifies energy costs and marine ecosystem damage and without action, water competition could spark social tensions.”
Over the next five years, data center capacity in the Gulf Cooperation Council area is expected to triple — from just over 1 gigawatt today to 3.3 GW by 2030 — a pace that outstrips the global average, according to FTI.
A view of the Ras al-Khair water desalination plant in Ras al-Khair along the Gulf coast in eastern Saudi Arabia. (Supplied)
