Aither in the news | AWA Water Source
Do desalination plants make economic sense?
Aither was pleased to have an article published by AWA on the economics of desalination investments. In the article, Chris Olszak and Simon Hone highlight the challenges in properly assessing the full economic benefits and costs of investing in desalination, and the importance of sound decisions in adapting to climate change and dealing with uncertainty.
The good news is that many of these challenges can be addressed. Aither’s quantitative economics team have built an optimisation model for urban water supply and demand side investments that deals with portfolio effects and real options. The model can be integrated with the hydrological models used by governments and water utilities.
Our applications to date suggest that it significantly improves decision making about when and how to invest in supply augmentations which will save customers and taxpayers money.