Contributor Steve Bolze is the President & CEO, Power & Water
Today we continued a great relationship between GE and the Saudi Electric Company (SEC) by announcing our agreement to deliver equipment capable of producing 2,000 megawatts of electricity for Saudi Arabia. The contract, totaling nearly $1 billion, provides for 30 gas turbines to SEC’s Riyadh Power Plant 10.
Though traditionally known for an abundance of fossil fuel resources, the Middle East shares in the universal need for increased power supply to support the growing requirements of its people. In fact, the World Energy Outlook 2008 projects that between now and 2030, energy consumption in the region is expected to increase 60% to a total of 11% of the world’s energy usage!
To prepare for the future, and to address current energy shortages, the government of Saudi Arabia is committed to increasing the region’s energy growth by 8% a year, ultimately adding 30 gigawatts to the power grid by 2020.
The project we announced today is crucial to addressing the energy shortages experienced by Saudi Arabia during the summer months, when energy usage is at its peak, by increasing the power capacity in SEC’s Central Operating Area by 20%.
A colleague of mine, Joe Anis, the regional executive for GE Energy in the Middle East, spoke about the demand for power and water recently. See the quick video above.
* Read the Press Release
* Watch Steve Bolze on CNBC
* Read about another recent GE Energy announcement in Iraq
