Electricity Minister probes desalination cooperation with HydroVolta

Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat held talks on Saturday, September 19, 2026, with HydroVolta President George Brik on cooperation in seawater desalination and the treatment of saline groundwater.

During the talks, they reviewed the possible use of infrastructure at electricity generation plants for desalination projects, as well as plans to recover minerals and chemicals from waste produced during the desalination process.

Hydrovolta officials presented the Belgian company’s SonixED technology, which combines electrical separation and ultrasound to remove salts and other substances from water.

According to the Ministry, the technology can reduce salt buildup, chemical use, and energy consumption during water treatment. It can also treat highly saline groundwater and produce water suitable for drinking or irrigation.

The system can recover several products from desalination waste, including magnesium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, bromine, and hydrochloric acid.

Esmat also discussed Egypt’s plan to increase desalination capacity to 10 million cubic meters of water per day by 2050.

The first phase targets 3.35 million cubic meters per day and could include the production of chemicals from desalination waste, reducing the need for imported materials.

A second phase would include systems to extract and process magnesium for commercial use.

The meeting also addressed plans to use solar and wind power for desalination, which could help reduce operating costs.

Esmat said Egypt wants to attract private and foreign investment in desalination, expand local production of equipment and components, and bring modern water treatment technologies into the country.