Power player

And with many of the region’s utility providers now looking simultaneously to boost their generating capacity and diversify their energy mix away from a reliance on traditional technologies he believes GE Energy is well placed to meet all of their needs.

“We are a diversified technology company focused on the energy industry. Our power generation platforms include our thermal business with gas and steam turbines; our renewables business which has wind and solar; our services business which covers the core services – environmental, transmission and distribution; and then we have our nuclear business,” Anis explains. He has been with GE a little over eleven years, the past eight of which have been spent in the UAE. Prior to that, he was posted in Egypt.

Anis is appropriately more than diplomatic when it comes discussing the much talked about looming power shortage in the Middle East: “Across the region, most of the governments are out on what their energy needs and their demands are. Our job is to work closely with them in making sure that we have a good line of sight on their forecasts so that we can relate that back into our business and plan accordingly.”

“But I would say across the region you see demand over the next eight years roughly of 120 GW being added, with around US $140 billion being invested into power and water projects. Individual governments are going to have different strategies on how to meet that. Whether or not there will be shortfalls depends on the individual strategy of each country in terms of whether they are using their own energy for their own power generation needs or exporting that out and then looking at alternative sources.”

Similarly, he is reluctant to suggest which alternative technologies each country should be pursuing, simply because GE Energy offers all of them.

“Every country will have to look at their portfolio of energy sources and their generation platforms and certainly having diversification makes sense, but whether it is traditional thermal plants, renewables or nuclear that is not a decision we would make, as we can cater for all of them,” Anis says, adding: “There has obviously been lot of interest in renewables in the region and concern for the environment, and I think we are going to see more and more of that.”

He continues: “GE is positioned well to support those initiatives with our Ecoimagination platform and, particularly in energy, we have technologies that will drive more efficient solutions. In terms of renewables, it depends on each individual country and what their strategy is and how they are going to approach that but certainly in parts of the region there is potential for wind and clearly across the region the sun is abundant so looking at solar solutions is an option. Then I guess the next area is nuclear. Individual countries are announcing their interest in pursuing nuclear technology.”

GE Energy is one of a number of companies hoping to pick up lucrative contracts from Middle Eastern countries looking to implement nuclear programmes and Anis reveals that the company is likely submit its bid as a consortium with other technology firms.

“We have a nuclear business and we are obviously ready to support those governments that are interested in exploring safe nuclear energy. It would depend on how the bid is structured, that varies even on our thermal side, for example we might supply our equipment to contractors and usually those deals could be in consortiums. You know the Japanese have a big nuclear business and we have a big joint venture with Hitachi and they have been consistently building nuclear plants over the past decade.

“Obviously, the first step is for the political agreements to be in place and there are a lot of discussions are going on right now and then it will come down to working with the regulatory bodies to put the structure in place to allow for nuclear plants to be built and operated safely in those countries and that is when they start coming to the technology providers looking for solutions, but we are obviously ready to support those governments that are ready to start discussing nuclear programmes,” he comments.

In the Middle East, GE Energy is perhaps best known as a supplier of gas and steam turbines.

Indeed, just last month the company was awarded a US $500 million contract to provide gas turbines and generators for five power plants owned by Saudi Electricity Company.

“A big part of our business is turbines and historically here in the region that has been the case but it has been growing and expanding into many other areas obviously as more technology comes in,” Anis says, adding “But core power and water requirements such as combined-cycle plants, gas and steam turbines are still the basis of power generation here.

“If you look globally you do see a bigger mix of technology selection; clearly in north America and Europe there has been a big shift lately into renewables, especially wind and it is just a matter of time until the Middle East, Asia and Africa will adopt their own strategies of diversification. But I think the increase right now on the infrastructure demand is driving the power and water sector and one of the things that you have to keep in mind when looking at each countries needs is they also need to look at their timing and historically gas turbines are faster to install – a simple cycle or a combined-cycle plant will be a little faster.”

But choice of technology aside, Anis is certain of one thing: that the region’s power industry will continue to develop strongly for the foreseeable future and that GE Energy intends to play an important role in fulfilling the sector’s technology requirements: “We are focused on the growth here in the region, providing solutions for our customers and providing technology that is suitable for what our customers’ needs are.”

“With the growth that is going on here in the region, certainly with the continued investment in the industrial base, the residential and real estate, the commercial tourism, it’s a very healthy market to be in.”