DOHA: The Public Works Authority’s (Ashghal) flagship QR10bn re-sewerage project will feature in the spotlight session of upcoming Doha PowerGen conference. The Middle East conference will also discuss the region’s mega upcoming projects including Jordan’s water sector, Iraq’s w waste water sector and the desalination developments across the Middle East.
The organisers said yesterday that the conference will feature a country spotlight too. The other sessions will expand on GCC Interconnection: Promoting Power Trade and Renewable Integration with presentations including “Maximising Today’s Grid Potential and Tomorrow’s Alternatives, Nuclear Power in the Middle East and Integrating Renewable Generation” into the Mena Energy Mix. These hot topics will look at a smart road to sustainable energy future and opportunities and challenges of nuclear energy in the Middle East as well as the future role of solar energy in the Middle East.
Sessions that are likely to attract great interest in the WaterWorld Middle East programme include Privatisation Progress, Water Resource Management, Desalination Operational Challenges and Utility Management.
PowerGen Middle East & WaterWorld Middle East has a distinguished reputation as being one of the leading platforms for experts, decision makers and industry leaders to come together to discuss important issues and share knowledge about the latest research and technologies as well as lessons learned about influential projects, the organisers said.
In the coming years, far more attention will need to be placed on demand supply management of power and water. To ensure sustainable growth in the long-term, more investment needs to be channeled towards energy-efficiency measures such as clean fuel and renewable energy supplies, improving water efficiency, investing in new water desalination capacity, said Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen, International Events Director at PennWell Corporation Middle East.
She said multi-billion-dollar projects are on the cards in the GCC and other Arab countries, including nearly $17bn in Saudi Arabia in 2013. Projects worth about $4.2bn are also planned in the UAE and Kuwait.
She said that rising oil and gas prices combined with increasing domestic power requirements are prompting GCC governments to increase investments in the power and water sector, as well as secure alternative sources of energy.
“Financing for future projects needs to come from private financial corporations such as the International Finance Corporation which is part of the World Bank Group, together with a consortium of international development finance institutions. Lenders include other banks and Infrastructure Funds,” she said.
The Peninsula
