NEOM announced that it will adopt pioneering solar technology to produce low cost, environmentally friendly water, strengthening NEOM's reputation as an emerging hub for innovation and conservation. The company has signed an agreement with Solar Water Plc. to build the first ever "solar dome" desalination plants in NEOM, located in northwest Saudi Arabia. The pilot project promises to revolutionize the water desalination process, helping solve one of the world's most pressing problems – access to fresh water. Work on the first "solar dome" will begin in February and is expected to be completed by the end of 2020. At an estimated $0.34/m3, the cost of producing water via "solar dome" technology will be significantly lower than desalination plants using reverse osmosis methods. The technology will also significantly reduce the impact on the environment by producing more concentrated brine, a potentially harmful byproduct of the water extraction process. Solar Water's approach, developed at the U.K.'s Cranfield University, represents the first use, on a large scale, of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology in seawater desalination. The process sees seawater pumped into a hydrological "solar dome" made from glass and steel, before it is superheated, evaporated and eventually precipitated as fresh water. The "solar dome" desalination process, which can also operate at night due to the stored solar energy generated throughout the day, will reduce the total amount of brine that is created during the water extraction process. Typically, the high salt concentration in brine makes it more difficult and expensive to process. The solar dome process helps prevent any damage to marine life as no brine is discharged into the sea. With over one billion people around the world lacking access to clean water every day, NEOM's solar desalination project will serve as a test case for other water scarce countries that are struggling to generate environmentally safe and sustainable sources of fresh water.