$250 billion needed to fund MENA power sector

A staggering amount of $250 billion is needed to finance the Middle East and North Africa region’s power sector in the next five years to meet regional electricity demand growth, Arabian Business reported Friday.

According to a report released by the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation, power capacity in the MENA region will increase by 7.8 percent annually over the next five years, resulting to a capacity increment of 124 gigawatts in power generation, transmission and distribution (GTD).

The report entitled “MENA Energy Investment Outlook: Capturing the Full Scope and Scale of the Power Sector.” Stated that a regional value between $100 million and $20 billion will account for 200 planned and announced energy-related projects in the region.

The report shared findings which showed that countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council “hold the lion’s share of investment growth,” making up 42 percent of total required expenditure that equates to $105 billion.

Iran, on the other hand, will consume 20 percent of the total value worth $49 billion of investment for power GTD by 2017.

Exhibition Director of the Middle East Electricity Anita Mathews said in a statement, “A young, urbanizing and fast growing population combined with the massive diversification and industrial expansion plans across the MENA region has led to a spurt in the demand for power.”

Mathews also cited that “some MENA countries have been struggling to keep up with the escalating demand amid political turmoil in parts of the region.” Noting that a joint effort from the private and public sectors is needed to catch up with the power demand, Mathews said that to pump-up the power industry is viewed as socially, economically and politically necessary.

In February, a 3-day Middle East Electricity 2013 conference is expected to be the largest gathering of energy companies dedicated to discuss solar energy, nuclear energy, lighting energy and other issues related to power in the region.