DOHA – With one of the biggest power reserve margins in the GCC, Qatar is able to keep up with growing demand for power and water as preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup accelerate. Even though power demand growth has regularly exceeded 10 per cent over the past five years, Qatar's installed capacity of 8,761MW was comfortably able to deal with the peak usage of 6,255MW recorded in 2012. Having a reserve cushion is part of Qatar's long-term initiative toward developing a sustainable energy and water strategy, which will be one of the highlights of the discussions at the forthcoming Qatar Energy and Water Efficiency Conference to be held on Dec. 8-10 at the Hilton Hotel Doha. At the conference, high-level government authorities will share their initiatives and plans toward achieving Qatar's power and water sustainability objectives, including Engineer Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, President, Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa); Maryam Saeed Al-Mohannadi, Head of Water Strategy Section, Ministry of Environment; Frank Harrigan, Director, Department of Economic Development, Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics; Eng. Meshal M. Al-Shamari, Director, Qatar Green Building Council, Qatar Foundation; Hassan Qasem, Senior Infrastructure Engineer, Ministry of Municipalities and Urban Planning; and Abdulaziz Ahmed Al-Khal, Director of Masarak, Qatar Mobility Innovations Centre. Qatar's power reserves have enabled it to sell electricity to neighbouring countries in the GCC which have struggled to meet rising domestic demand. However, although it currently has a healthy reserve margin, Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) is aware that growing demand must be adequately met with appropriate planning and preparations, as well as promoting efficient use of electricity and water. Qatar's next planned independent water and power plant (IWPP) is known as Facility D and will be located at the Qatar Economic Zone near Doha. It is expected to have a power generation capacity of 2,400MW and a desalination capacity of 130 million g/d. The desalination component will partly use reverse osmosis (RO) technology; it will be the first time the country has employed it on a large-scale scheme. Ghassan Barghouth, President, Schneider Electric, Qatar, Kuwait & Bahrain, praised Qatar for being a regional leader in adopting and implementing an energy and water efficiency strategy. “We live in a world where innovative individuals collaborate to make the most of their energy while using less of their common Planet. Schneider Electric is one of the leading companies globally in sustainability, we are delighted with the opportunity to share with conference delegates our expertise in providing 3-dimensional efficiency solutions: managing the efficiency processes, creating collaborative environment and a standard efficiency view within an organization from the control level up to the CEO level, and empowering organizations to simulate a "what if" scenario for a better energy management decisions.” – SG
