Huge power infrastructure investments on the Middle East horizon

• 11 years ago (2013-11-11)
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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) should expect a massive wave of investments in power and water infrastructure within the next decade, according to Saeed Nassouri, Technical Advisor at Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA).

Delegates at the recent MENA Power conference in Abu Dhabi were informed that the power generation, transmission and distribution market across the Middle East and North Africa is expected to be worth $283 billion by 2018.

Addressing delegates, Mr Nassouri reaffirmed the need to efficiently invest in long term capacity. “In the last 5 years demand growth has increased on average by 9.4 per cent per annum in Abu Dhabi, as a result of new development and increase in population and 11.9 per cent growth per annum until 2015 is forecasted by ADWEC”, Mr Nassouri said.

He claimed that “… 75 GW of renewable energy projects worth $200 billion are already in the pipeline, making the region a global power player in the sector.”

The anticipated surge in investment can be attributed to growing per capita energy consumption in the Middle East – currently amongst the highest in the world – and population growth. Amongst the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Mr Nassouri estimated power generating capacity would need to rise by an estimated 64 GW to 176.5 GW by 2020, requiring investment of $40-45 billion at 2012 unit costs.