Electricity authorities in the Middle East face oil deficits, budget cuts, decreases in natural resources and political disputes, leading them to consider cutting domestic power supplies as a way of power rationing, according to Roy Hodges, Vice President of the consultants Technology Partners.
Iraq has signed a new five-year deal to import natural gas from Iran to ease its electricity woes, an official has said. The agreement deepens Iraqi economic ties with Tehran as US troops prepare to leave at the end of this year.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest state-owned oil company, plans to double its power- generating capacity to 4000 MW by 2015 in order to meet expected demand from crude and natural gas production.
Gulf states must add about 8 GW of power generation capacity per year to cope with growing demand, Dr Abdullah Al Shehri, CEO of Saudi Arabia's Electricity and Co-generation Regulatory Authority (ECRA), has said at the Dubai Global Energy Forum.
Siemens AG, which recently won orders exceeding $1 billion in Saudi Arabia, is eyeing the kingdom for power-generation projects as population growth spurs electricity demand, an executive said.
Arab nations are expected to pump more than $92 billion into projects to expand their power generation capacity.
Amman and Ankara are set to usher in a new era of energy cooperation between Turkey and Jordan, with the signing of a nuclear cooperation agreement.
Iran’s electricity generation capacity has increased to 60 000 MW after the inauguration of a new gas unit in Semnan’s combined cycle power plant in northern Iran.
Pakistan’s Water and Power Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has said that an additional 826 MW of electricity will be added to the system by December 2011.