Few factors are as fundamental to the health and prosperity of nations as water, energy, and mining. The fact that these elements are interconnected and interdependent makes their management both challenging and rewarding for policymakers and business leaders.
Water is the essence of life, and historians have traced the rise and fall of nations to it. In Saudi Arabia, there was a strategic direction decades ago to respond to the threat of water scarcity by reducing over-dependence on water reservoirs and instead focusing on desalination, and this continues to be at the heart of the Kingdom’s water strategy. Desalination, however, represents only one component of the water value chain, as water purification, transmission, and distribution are also essential. Beyond these residential processes, the importance of water extends further: it is indispensable to both energy production and mining operations. This interdependence underscores the structural linkage between water, energy, and mining: desalination requires energy, and energy systems depend on minerals.
Energy is another key element of life: from our caveman ancestors until today, we have used fire, electrons, and electricity in their various iterations to literally and figuratively fuel our lives, industries, and basic sustenance needs. Over the past century, Saudi Arabia has approached energy as a sector in which it can maintain a reliable international role – starting with conventional fuels, and continuing to evolve since Vision 2030. This now includes blue and green hydrogen, which leverage the Kingdom’s solar and wind resources. The recent expansion of renewable energy further illustrates the interdependence of energy and mining, as solar panels and batteries require lithium and other materials sourced through mining.
This is a natural segue into the third and final part of the trifecta – mining, which may be the least understood and most under-appreciated vector of the Kingdom’s efforts to achieve a balanced energy transition strategy. Saudi Arabia is endowed with extensive mineral resources, which could provide a stable and enduring foundation for local and global supply in coming centuries. However, mining also needs water and power/energy. In today’s increasingly AI-driven word, it should also be noted that effectively integrating the three resources is important for our power-hungry data centers, and can form the foundation for providing continuous, reliable energy and data services globally.
These strategies will need to be brought together in a holistic and coordinated way. A review of the energy, water, and mining objectives in Vision 2030 indicates that while the strategy is very well designed, what can and will increasingly distinguish the Kingdom’s case is the effective execution of these strategies. Indeed, firms like Aramco, Acwa, Maaden, and others have participated in Saudi Arabia’s Public-Private Partnership framework to advance the execution of strategic initiatives.
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