The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) power generation capacity is expected to grow by 44 percent to surpass 1,609 terawatt hours by 2013. Council members are consolidating their energy capabilities, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait completing the first phase of a joint power grid for the region last July of 2009. Although the GCC's current installed power capacity is at around 75,000 megawatts (MW), the annual 9.5 percent growth in demand will require more than 55,000 MW of additional power through 2015. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has emerged as the fastest growing consumer of energy in the GCC and rest of the Middle East, with demand for electric utilities expected to increase at an average of 5 to 7 percent annually. The country is also expend to invest around SR450 billion to generate at least 35 gigawatts (GW) of additional power generating capacity by 2023 to 2025, which is more than double the 2005 estimate of installed capacity of 30.5 GW. The upcoming GCC Power 2009 Conference and Exhibition sponsored by Saudi Electricity Company will gather regional and global experts, authorities and investors to discuss the latest trends, challenges and strategies affecting the region's power supply amidst rapid economic and population growth. The event will run on Oct.19-21, 2009 at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel and will include CIGRE - the International Council on Large Electric Systems, a leading global organization in the field of high voltage electricity, as one of its key organizers. “GCC countries are expected to fund as much as SR187.5 billion in power projects between now and 2015. They will need to acquire detailed information on the technological, ecological, logistical, economic and regulatory implications of each of these critical investments to ensure power needs are met within the next decade. CIGRE's participation in GCC Power 2009 will provide valuable direction on the region's power strategies as its members pursue their respective development agendas,” said Fadi Kayrouz, project manager of GCC Power at Riyadh Exhibition Company. Co-hosted by international events organizers Riyadh Exhibitions Company and IFP Qatar, GCC Power 2009 will provide a business-to-business platform for the electricity and energy sectors to explore the world's largest power market. It will feature two main events, namely, the 5th GCC CIGRE International Conference and the 14th Exhibition for Electrical Equipments. The GCC CIGRE conference is held annually in different GCC countries and is considered by the Council as its most important event; Saudi Arabia was chosen this year due to its leadership in the power field. The GCC Regional Committee for Large Electric Systems “GCC CIGRE” is a nonprofit organization established by a resolution of their Excellencies the GCC Ministers of Electricity and Water in 1985. GCC CIGRE is mainly devoted to encourage and exchange information and expertise in the field of Electricity Systems through conferences, seminars and research. The conference will gather around 500 international delegates and discuss more than 50 papers on electricity and energy. Topics to be covered by GCC Power 2009 include system operation and control; system planning, development and technical studies; substations; reactive equipment; high voltage equipment; power transmission lines; HVDC and power electronics; and rotating Electrical machines. Participants will also discuss strategies for securing investments to meet demand, electricity network connectivity among GCC countries, and system challenges throughout the region. Meanwhile, in Al-Khobar, Saudi Electricity Company has given approval to award SR7.64 billion ($2.03 billion) worth of contracts out of SR80 billion it plans to spend by 2012 to boost capacity, the company said on Wednesday. It did not give details of the projects it would award in a statement on the Saudi bourse website but said its generation capacity would increase by around 13,000 megawatt. SEC currently produces around 37,000 MW. SEC, the Gulf's largest utility firm by market value said in June it would issue Islamic bonds that could be worth about SR5 billion to help it fund expansion.
