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 just concluded three-day GCC Power 2009 Conference and Exhibition - a centralized platform for regional and international players to explore on of the world's largest energy markets - highlighted system planning, development & technical studies; system operation & control; power system protection; substations and HV equipment; power transformers; transmission lines and cables and electricity markets and generation development. “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,” said Fadi Kayrouz, project manager of GCC Power at Riyadh Exhibition Company, a partner of CIGRE - the International Council on Large Electric Systems, a leading global organization in the field of high voltage electricity, as one of key organizers of this year's event. Saudi Arabia has figured prominently in the marketing and expansion program of international energy firms as the country currently accounts for an estimated 50 per cent of the SR607.5 billion power projects being undertaken in the GCC. Latest trends and innovations, empowering exhibitors and trade visitors with a wider range of vital industry insights to pursue various new deals and projects were introduced during the conference.
