Privatization drives Omani power needs

Published February 19th, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

By introducing private sector investment into the power industry, the Sultanate of Oman becomes the first country in the region to allow the establishment of independent utilities, to meet the growing demand and diversify the country's economy.

Electricity is reaching almost 97 percent of the Sultanate today, and the government is taking initiatives to further strengthen the infrastructure.

At the Middle East Electricity Exhibition, the Corporate Manager of Bin Salim Enterprises Nelson D'Silva, the Oman-based Lucy Switchgear agent, said: “This is a very positive step towards developing the market, and it opens up massive opportunities for leading industry technology providers such as Lucy Switchgear. With major customers such as the Ministry of Housing Electricity and Water (MEHW), the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Health, the company has around 90 percent share in the market for Ring Main Units – providing full automation and control functionality for enhanced network management.”

Economic development, increasing industrial capacity and fast population growth is driving demand for electricity in the Arabian Gulf states. These states are expected to require an additional 100 gigawatts of power generation capacity before the year 2020 at a cost of $150 billion, according to the World Energy Council. The government in Oman is planning to increase the Sultanate's electricity generation to 3260 Mega Watts by 2006, up from 2268 Mega Watts as at the end of 2002. — (menareport.com)