Sunday October 23, 2016
Doha (QNA)

Doha will host the GCC POWER 2016 Conference and Exhibition under the theme: "Towards Energy Efficiency".

The event will take place from 08 - 10 Nov. 2016 under the patronage of Minister of Energy and Industry Qatar. The event is organized by GCC Cigre and hosted by Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa). Over 50 speakers from 18 countries will share their expertise and knowledge with the participants. More than 35 regional and international companies will be exhibiting their products and services on the exhibition floor.

The 21st exhibition for electrical equipment's covers all aspects of the production, transportation and distribution of electricity. Among participants include large number of industry professionals, manufacturers, suppliers, contractors and specifiers giving them direct access to project directors, GCC ministries, government bodies and a variety of high level decision makers involved in the electricity sector.

Exhibitors will have a unique opportunity to build trade links and enter into partnerships with large multi-nationals, local firms and consultancies. The world's biggest names in the power industry as well as regional experts are attending to take advantage of the fastest growing energy market in the world.

The event is comprised of plenary sessions, tutorials, market opportunities and networking events. The committee received an overwhelming response from industry experts that submitted over 238 plus abstracts for the technical program. This helped the committee to create a robust program that addresses a broad range topics on electrical and energy industry.

A press release by the organizers said that the GCC continues to witness one of the highest growth rates in demand for electricity primarily due to population growth, urbanization and industrialization. "Strong economic and demographic growth shown by the GCC economies' industrialization programs, has led to a dramatic increase in power consumption. As the demand increases, the GCC countries are also experiencing significant requirements for power sector infrastructure development."

"The GCC power sector will require about US$ 50 billion of investment in new power generating capacity. The GCC alone will add 76.8 gigawatts (GW) of capacity for power generation between 2016 and 2020," the press release said.

"The GCC Power Exhibition and Conference in Doha, offers an ideal forum for all those involved in the power sector to develop business relations and discuss the issues and challenges faced by the sector in the region. Participants will have ample opportunity to discuss the latest trends, challenges, developments and strategies to meet the region’s rapidly expanding energy needs through a series of panel and technical sessions. The three day conference will primarily focus on challenges and opportunities in electricity and energy industry through latest research studies and strategies.

"Qatar produces 8,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity of which it consumes 5,300 MW during peak hours. Since its inception in 2000, Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation "Kahramaa" has been working to develop and upgrade the electricity sector, the most vital sectors in the country. Therefore, its inception marked the advent of a new era of progress and prosperity for electricity sector in Qatar."

On the first day Kahramaa will participate in the panel discussion on Energy efficiency: optimizing energy resources and decreasing costs along with high level executives from EWA (Bahrain), MEW ( Kuwait), Ministry of Energy (UAE) and Energy Efficiency Program ((KSA).