In order to match its growing demand the UAE will achieve nearly 40 per cent growth in its electricity generation by 2020, according to the UAE Power Report from Business Monitor International (BMI).
The Saudi Arabian government has announced that it has signed a nuclear energy cooperation deal with Argentina.
Overall power generation in developed nations rose 3.7 per cent last year, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report. This largely made up for the 3.8 per cent decrease in 2009, as power demand recovered from the global recession.
Turkey’s MetCap Energy Investments planning to build an integrated combined solar-natural gas plant, based on GE’s latest combined cycle technology.
Saudi Arabian company ACWA Power International has announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with Jordan Dubai Capital to acquire a controlling stake in Jordan’s Central Electricity Generation Company (CEGCO), valued at around $144 million.
Turkey is to privatise its electricity generation plants, following the success of its similar action to privatise its electricity distribution grid. The only exceptions to this are some strategic dams such as Atatürk, Karakaya and Keban which are built on international waters.
Qatar has formally dedicated the Ras Qartas Energy Plant, the biggest gas fired power plant in the country and the region.
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.