JEDDAH – Saudi Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Hussayen disclosed Sunday that the government will spend around SR110 billion on new projects to improve water and power infrastructure.
In his speech during the inauguration of the Saudi Water and Power Forum 2013 at the Hilton Jeddah, he also said the ministry will sign projects with the Egyptian Electricity Company in order to increase power generation in the Kingdom in the face of rising consumption, reaching its peak particularly during summer.
The three-day forum is being held in partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Water & Electricity.
Prince Mishal Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah, inaugurated the event in the presence of other senior government officials and bigwigs in the industry.
Regarding the contribution of Saudi Ministry of Water and Electricity in the SWPF, Moya Bushnak’s Chairman Dr. Adil Bushnak said the “Saudi government’s initiatives are focused on diversifying the energy resources and we are looking forward for council of ministers to adopt King Abdullah City for Renewable Energy’s Plan in order to secure water and electricity for the Kingdom in the coming decades.”
He added “the Forum is a perfect platform to highlight such endeavors which are being undertaken to improve the Saudi Water and Power sectors and encourage the industry experts and leaders to form an operational network to leverage the upcoming business opportunities and potential investments.”
The Forum will create a think tank to deliberate on key issues. These issues are optimum utilization of renewable energy resources; use of effective desalination technologies; generate sustainability through implementation of smart electricity generation techniques and ways to overcome these challenges and create opportunities for business development and investment.
The Forum will further allow its participants and delegates to create a functional network as the delegates will get to participate in selected interactive roundtable discussions and achieve interactive time with the experts.
The SWPF will also feature a CWC Technical Seminar so as to let the participants become aware about the innovative new technologies that are being offered and implemented in the Gulf region. The German Desalination Industry Association (DME) will lead a morning session on “Key Solutions for Key Desalination Markets”.
Dr Abdullah Al-Shehri, Governor, Electricity & Co-Generation Regulatory Authority (ECRA); Dr Naïf Al-Abbadi, Director General, Saudi Energy Efficiency Center (SEEC); Dr Saleh Alawaji, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Saudi Electricity Company & Deputy Minister for Electricity, Ministry of Water & Electricity; Loay Bin Ahmad Bin Sa’ad Al-Musallam, CEO, NWC; Dr Michael Suess, CEO, Siemens Energy Sector; Amin Al-Shibani, VP Economic Development, KAUST; Maher Alodan, Research & Development & Innovation, KA CARE and Loay Alfi, Head of Business Development, KICP were among those present at the Forum and shared their viewpoints on the Renewable Energy Resources in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Forum received full support and participation of reputed companies, including ACWA Power, Siemens, GE, Marafiq, Doosan, Alstom, Aqualia, Al Kawther, Severn Trent Services, Schneider Electric, Veolia Water, SAPAC Water, Frost, Sullivas, Desertec Foundation and King Abdullah University for Science and Technology.
Prominent entities such as National Water Company (NWC), King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K-A-CARE), Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Saudi Arabia Solar Industry Association (SASIA), International Desalination Association (IDA), Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA) and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) also participated in the Forum.
