I've just returned from the Arabian Power & Water Summit (held in Abu Dhabi 29 - 31 March, 2010) and wanted to share with you my thoughts coming out of this event. The conference was well attended with over 200 delegates, really good numbers for an event of this type in the Middle East when you consider the current economic climate. It was interesting that the Alternative Energy Forum Day that kicked off the summit was attended by just over 50, and a number of these were journalists - is this some indication that the main focus in the Gulf is still on conventional power generation? After the event my colleagues and I sat down and we've come up with what we consider to be the five main issues that stood out at the conference:
- A continuing and rising demand for power and water in the GCC region for the foreseeable future.
- Concern regarding availability of gas supplies as feedstock, and the consideration of alternative, readily available fuel supplies.
- The opportunities and challenges of a GCC wide power distribution grid.
- The current method of contracting, and whether that model was sound and if it should remain. Interestingly there was a "split jury" amongst the panel discussing this (comprising Developers, Contractors and OEMs) where some felt that the current EPC model (one head to pat, one backside to kick, high risk/reward for the main contractor) had served the region and many Independent Water and Power Projects (I(W)PP) well, whereas others were more in favour of more risk staying with the Developer or State.
- A concern that Lenders were still staying on the sidelines, or in some cases had disappeared altogether (up to recently, RBS had been a leading lender in the region for I(W)PP but are now totally out of this area). Without project finance, I(W)PP don't get built.
Do you agree that these are the five big risk issues for Middle East Power and Water Projects or would you have others on your list? I'd be really interested in hearing your thoughts and any comments you might like to make.
