Demand for power set to grow in the Middle East, expert says

Frank Ackland, general manager, Eaton Middle East, said that the demand for power is set to grow in the Middle East.

Ackland told MEP Middle East: "As the demand is expected to continue rising in the coming years, the need to expand the region’s current generating capacity is growing at an even faster pace."

He said that according to research by Altaaqa Global, a leading global provider of multi-megawatt temporary power solutions, the UAE’s gross domestic electricity consumption alone will reach 141TWh in 2020, up from 103TWh in 2014. Power consumption in the country has already more than doubled in the past 10 years.

Ackland added: "The region’s largest country, Saudi Arabia, needs to invest at least $140bn by 2020 to generate capacity from 51.5GW to 71GW. The demand in power has largely been attributed to the continuous industrial and construction industry, coupled with population growth. To meet the demands, governments are looking towards developing cost-effective and efficient sources of electricity, sustainable opportunities to reduce overall energy consumption."

According to Ackland, the focus in the region is shifting towards sustainable, reliable and efficient energy. With the population growing at a rapid rate, this will bring additional demand for a reliable and efficient power supply.

He commented that there is a growing interest in energy storage, which helps to manage both grid stability as well as peak demand, limiting the need to build dedicated peaking power plants and minimizing CO2emissions.

Ackland said: "The energy storage market is therefore entering a new growth phase and Navigant Research projects that more than 11GW of energy storage capacity will be installed annually by 2020 in 22 countries."