Egypt's Electricity Minister Explores Advanced Desalination Partnership with HydroVolta

Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat met with HydroVolta President George Brik on Saturday, September 19, 2026, to discuss potential collaboration in seawater desalination and saline groundwater treatment. The discussions focused on utilizing existing infrastructure at electricity generation plants for upcoming desalination initiatives and recovering valuable minerals from waste byproducts.

During the meeting, representatives from HydroVolta introduced the Belgian firm's innovative SonixED technology. This system integrates electrical separation with ultrasound to efficiently extract salts and impurities, significantly cutting down on chemical usage, energy consumption, and scaling. The advanced technology is capable of purifying highly saline groundwater for drinking and agricultural purposes while extracting useful byproducts like magnesium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, bromine, and hydrochloric acid.

Minister Esmat outlined Egypt's ambitious goal to scale up desalination capacity to 10 million cubic meters daily by 2050. The initial phase aims for 3.35 million cubic meters per day, potentially integrating chemical recovery systems to decrease reliance on imported materials. A subsequent phase envisions commercial processing of extracted magnesium. Furthermore, officials explored powering these desalination facilities with solar and wind energy to drive down operational costs, as Egypt actively seeks to boost foreign and private investment, localize equipment manufacturing, and integrate cutting-edge water treatment solutions.