‘Mena needs $180bn investments to add power generating capacity’

DAMMAM / WAM

The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) will need investments of approximately $180 billion to add a capacity at 7.4% annually until 2021, which corresponds to additions of more than 130GW, according to estimates by Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP).
‘‘Governments continue to meet this challenge by expediting new projects and upgrading their infrastructure to meet increasing demand, while also encouraging the private sector to join as partners and financiers in power generation,’’ said the report on ‘‘Electricity trading in MENA – huge potential but far behind’’.
‘‘Electricity demand continues to grow rapidly in the Arab world where consumption has increase 10-fold since 1980. This surge can be attributed to several factors, including population growth, urbanisation, industrialisation and electricity prices made artificially low through government subsidies,’’ the monthly research report added.
But, the report noted, another option is also available to them: they can cooperate with their neighbours and explore further the potential of electricity trade as a supplement to their capacity additions.
The report said the region has several interconnections, yet trade remains minimal and often only takes place in response to emergencies and outages. The GCC countries are connected via the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) since 2011.