2013-02-21 07:45:39 - The second day of the conference on February 19, 2013 witnessed a thorough presentation of KAHRAMAA by its Director, Technical Affairs, Engineer Ahmed Al- Nasr. He spoke at length on upcoming projects and expansion plans of KAHRAMAA amidst a large number of International speakers and senior functionaries of the participating organizations.

The Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) participated at prestigious MEED Qatar Projects 2013 Conference which was held here at Grand Hyatt hotel recently.

The conference series was aimed at companies active or seeking business in the markets of Qatar including the Middle East. MEED is considered to be the source of strategic and accurate regional information, placing it in a unique position to bring together high-caliber renowned speakers and senior functionaries across the region.



The event was held under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry and Chairman & Managing Director, Qatar Petroleum.

During his presentation, Engineer Al- Nasr said that KAHRAMAA is all set for further major expansions in water and electricity

sectors, energy and water saving initiatives popularly termed as Tarsheed, development of a unique Awareness park and the Qatar’s first advanced electric consumption metering system among others.

Focusing on the growing investment opportunities in the utilities sector in coming years Engineer Ahmed Al-Nasr said there would be large-scale investments in the infrastructure upgrading in Qatar in view of Qatar’s determination to ensure world-class services to the country’s residents.

The country’s water and electricity sectors are expected to gain significantly from investments worth about $22bn that the KAHRAMAA has planned for the next eight years, in particular in the five-year period between 2013 and 2018, Eng. Al-Nasr added.

This includes the setting up of 140 new electricity substations (66- 400 KV) along with cables and over headlines, five reservoirs with a total capacity of 54 MIG, adding new water lines of 811 km across the country and other projects. The five new water reservoirs in as many different locations would be capable of storing 2,700 MIG (million gallons) of water.

He also said that plan is afoot to produce 200 MW solar power by 2020, which will be approx 2% of installed capacity. Due to space limitation, distributed generation (such as Rooftops) with smart grid concept will be adopted, he added.
The new power station is expected to come up in the new economic zone that the country is planning to set up on its northern side. The current installed capacity of electricity in Qatar is about 8761MW, said the senior functionary.

During his presentation, Eng. Al- Nasr said that the KAHRAMAA witnessed the growth in the consumption of power amounted to about 9% in 2012 compared to the 2011 figures. “During the peak period, the growth was 13% in the region.

In the water sector, the country is expected to witness developments worth QR3.2bn in the next five years alone and before 2022, works worth another QR3.8 billion would be executed. Developments include construction of some major building projects as well, he added.

The senior official also reiterated the corporation’s determination and commitment to reduce water consumption by about 35% in the next five years in view of the unprecedented rising demand for drinking water arising out of enormous rise in the country’s population and upcoming major projects and events.

Stating that the country’s per capita consumption of water is one of the highest in the world, Eng. Al- Nasr said that KAHRAMAA’s ongoing National Campaign for the Conservation and Efficient Use of Water and Electricity (Tarsheed) has witnessed a remarkable impact on society. He further said that the efforts are also underway to reduce the water and electricity consumptions by 35% and 20%, respectively in five years from now up to 2018.

Elaborating further about the ongoing campaign, Eng. Al- Nasr said that KAHRAMAA is setting up an “Awareness Park” in Thumama area to educate public on energy conservation and knowledge. He said that we believe that creating conservation awareness and knowledge especially amongst younger generation is more effective than any regulation to achieve our noble objectives.

MEED Events is part of the leading information brand in the Middle East working to provide delegates with the very latest business sensitive information. Over the past 10 years, MEED has organised events attended by senior government officials and thousands of international business people.
The conference was supported by the Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal). Qatar Projects 2013 was packed with presentations and panel discussions which provided valuable information to contractors and developers of the region.