Dubai's daily peak demand for desalinated water reached 487 million imperial gallons (MIG) in 2025, according to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). Its installed desalination capacity at the end of that year was 495 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD), leaving a margin of 8 MIGD, or 1.6%.
Demand outran capacity
Annual demand for desalinated water rose from 136.9 billion imperial gallons in 2022 to 161.505 billion in 2025, an increase of 18.0%. Peak demand climbed from 434 MIG in 2023 to 455 in 2024 and 487 in 2025. Over the same period installed capacity moved only from 490 to 495 MIGD.
Relief from Hassyan
The gap began to close in the first quarter of 2026, when DEWA commissioned Block A of the Hassyan seawater reverse osmosis plant. The 60 MIGD addition took capacity to 555 MIGD. DEWA expects the remaining 120 MIGD of the 180 MIGD first phase during 2026. Its own January 2026 statement and the developer, ACWA Power, point to completion in the first quarter of 2027, with a commercial operation date of February 15, 2027.
A thin storage cushion
Storage adds little room. At the end of 2023 DEWA's reservoirs held 911 MIG, about 2.3 days of that year's average demand. An aquifer storage and recovery scheme designed to hold up to 6,000 MIG was due by 2025, but DEWA still described it in September 2025 as awaiting completion.
Who regulates and prices Dubai's water, what the 735 MIGD plan for 2030 requires, and how the October 2026 agreement for a further Hassyan plant fits the program are covered in the full report. The full report, Water Systems Overview: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, is available for USD 499 at https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/reports/water-systems-overview-dubai-electricity-and-water-authority. For a free overview, read the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority Utility Snapshot at https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/utilities/dubai-electricity-and-water-authority.