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It has been another quiet 12 months for the private power and water developer market in the GCC, with just two offtake agreements signed for the Al-Zour North scheme in Kuwait and the Rabigh 2 project in Saudi Arabia.
These consolidated the UK/French GDF Suez Energy International’s lead in MEED’s annual survey of the region’s developer market, with power and water equity capacity portfolios about double its nearest rivals.
The next 12 months, however, promise to be more active as governments prepare to meet rapid rises in demand for utilities on the back of strong economic and industrial growth, with contracts expected to be awarded in Dubai, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Kuwait, too, is preparing to tender a raft of independent power and water projects, as it looks to build on the success of concluding its first public-private partnership at Al-Zour North. These are unlikely to displace GDF Suez from the top slots, but they will inevitably shake-up the order of the rest of the developer rankings.
This year has seen Acwa Power International move into second place in the power table, capping off a hugely successful first decade of existence for the Saudi developer.
Governments across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region are beginning to boost the amount of time and money they put into researching and implementing renewable energy projects to assist efforts to meet growing demand for electricity.
It was the hardship posting to end all hardship postings. British officers went quite literally round the bend to get there, writes Matthew Teller, and perhaps sometimes metaphorically too. In 1863 Britain was looking to strengthen its control over the Gulf. The eager new ambassador to the region, Political Resident ...
The India Office exercised colonial rule over an area stretching west as far as Aden. Stories are being brought to light in a £8.7m project for nearly half a million documents relating to the Gulf to be digitised.
In 1932, amid a global economic slump, the impoverished Saudis came to London looking for a loan. They also had an offer: would Britain like to try drilling for oil?
