August 25 2016

The per person electricity use in the country fell by approximately 14% between April 2012 and November 2015, according to figures released by Qatar General Electricity and Water (Kahramaa).

In a report published in the 2016 edition of The Report magazine of the Oxford Business Group, Kahramaa also informed that there was a nearly 17% fall in the per person consumption of water during the same period.

However, based on an information from the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics the publication said  in December 2015 the country's electricity utilisation increased 8.3% year on year while per capita water consumption dropped by 1.4%.

It is also reported that some 57% of the electricity generated in the country is consumed by residents while the industry takes 30%. The auxiliary consumers account for 7% while 6% is referred to as transmission losses.

In per capita terms, Qatar has the third largest electricity consumption in the Middle East, at about 17bn Kwh, which is less only to Kuwait (19Kwh) and the UAE (18Kwh), it is reported.

The publication has also reported a massive growth in water consumption in Qatar in the decade between 2005 and 2015. While it was only 195 cubic metres in 2005, the figure rose to 535 cubic metres, it said while attributing the increased consumption to the three-fold rise in  the country's population during the  period.

According to the figures released by Kahramaa, Qatar's water consumption rates continue to be alarming. The corporation said it reached 595 litres per resident per day in 2014, up from 430 in 2012.

The figures released by Inter-Ministerial Permanent Population Committee estimated that residents now consume 675 litres of water per capita per day.

Interestingly the growth in per capita water consumption is reported at a time when there were repeated announcements of massive reduction in water consumption across the country as part of the ongoing Tarsheed campaign.

© Gulf Times 2016