16 May 2013
Muscat: The French power giant GDF Suez has so far invested over $3 billion through its six power and desalination plants in the Sultanate of Oman and is keenly interested to participate in more energy and desalination bids whenever they come up.
"The six plants, of which four are exclusive power plants and two mixed plants (power and desalination), add 2,600MW of power to the Sultanate's grid. We started with the Al Manah power plant (no longer owned by GDF Suez) in Oman in 1994 and now have plants in Barka, Sohar, Al Rusayl, Al Kamil and are keen to continue our participation in the development of Oman's power and water desalination segments," said Gérard Mestrallet, chairman and chief executive officer, GDF Suez, at an interactive session with the media yesterday.
"We are a major electricity producer in the Gulf and in the region, until now most of the power plants we have been built are based on natural gas but this could change in the future as some of the countries are exploring renewable like wind or solar. But it is the government of a country that decides what it needs. We are also interested in renewables and are engaged in that as well. As of now in the region the type of power plants depend on government's intent and what they propose. If they ask for gas-based plant, we can't offer them renewable but to go for what they need. But we have capabilities in renewable as well as we are building a 300MW wind farm in Africa. We are also preparing to bid for a solar plant in Morocco and are keenly watching the developments in Saudi Arabia on this front," he explained.
He added, "GDF Suez is the largest utility firm in the world by market capitalisation and the number of employees stand at 227,000 at present in 70 countries. Our vision is to be useful to people when we produce water and electricity and aid the growth of that country."
Following the start of commercial production at the new Barka 3 power plant and to demonstrate the importance of Oman in the company's vision, Gerard Mestrallet visited the plant yesterday, accompanied by senior members of GDF Suez leadership team and other officials.
Barka 3 Power Plant, owned by Al Suwadi Power Company, in which GDF Suez owns a 46 per cent share, has a life-span of 30-40 years and is already an integral component of the national infrastructure, providing an additional 750MW to meet the increasing demand of the population.
Dirk Beeuwsaert, executive vice-president, in charge of the Energy International Business Line, and president of International Power, said: "GDF Suez operations in the Middle East prove that where conditions are available for a healthy business environment underpinned by a vision of strong economic diversification, significant international investment and expertise applied at a local level can guarantee consistent power production. Our nomination as preferred bidder in Kuwait, the last Gulf country to open up privatisation, demonstrates the importance of the region in our international profile as GDF Suez is now visible throughout all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries."
Willem Van Twembeke, chief executive officer of GDF Suez Energy International further added, "As a global group, GDF Suez brings benefits to its regional stakeholders and partners through high-quality asset management. The size of our regional and global portfolio allows us to leverage on people, processes and technology, resulting in broad multidisciplinary expertise on which we can constantly draw for any of our projects."
Muscat: The French power giant GDF Suez has so far invested over $3 billion through its six power and desalination plants in the Sultanate of Oman and is keenly interested to participate in more energy and desalination bids whenever they come up.
"The six plants, of which four are exclusive power plants and two mixed plants (power and desalination), add 2,600MW of power to the Sultanate's grid. We started with the Al Manah power plant (no longer owned by GDF Suez) in Oman in 1994 and now have plants in Barka, Sohar, Al Rusayl, Al Kamil and are keen to continue our participation in the development of Oman's power and water desalination segments," said Gérard Mestrallet, chairman and chief executive officer, GDF Suez, at an interactive session with the media yesterday.
"We are a major electricity producer in the Gulf and in the region, until now most of the power plants we have been built are based on natural gas but this could change in the future as some of the countries are exploring renewable like wind or solar. But it is the government of a country that decides what it needs. We are also interested in renewables and are engaged in that as well. As of now in the region the type of power plants depend on government's intent and what they propose. If they ask for gas-based plant, we can't offer them renewable but to go for what they need. But we have capabilities in renewable as well as we are building a 300MW wind farm in Africa. We are also preparing to bid for a solar plant in Morocco and are keenly watching the developments in Saudi Arabia on this front," he explained.
He added, "GDF Suez is the largest utility firm in the world by market capitalisation and the number of employees stand at 227,000 at present in 70 countries. Our vision is to be useful to people when we produce water and electricity and aid the growth of that country."
Following the start of commercial production at the new Barka 3 power plant and to demonstrate the importance of Oman in the company's vision, Gerard Mestrallet visited the plant yesterday, accompanied by senior members of GDF Suez leadership team and other officials.
Barka 3 Power Plant, owned by Al Suwadi Power Company, in which GDF Suez owns a 46 per cent share, has a life-span of 30-40 years and is already an integral component of the national infrastructure, providing an additional 750MW to meet the increasing demand of the population.
Dirk Beeuwsaert, executive vice-president, in charge of the Energy International Business Line, and president of International Power, said: "GDF Suez operations in the Middle East prove that where conditions are available for a healthy business environment underpinned by a vision of strong economic diversification, significant international investment and expertise applied at a local level can guarantee consistent power production. Our nomination as preferred bidder in Kuwait, the last Gulf country to open up privatisation, demonstrates the importance of the region in our international profile as GDF Suez is now visible throughout all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries."
Willem Van Twembeke, chief executive officer of GDF Suez Energy International further added, "As a global group, GDF Suez brings benefits to its regional stakeholders and partners through high-quality asset management. The size of our regional and global portfolio allows us to leverage on people, processes and technology, resulting in broad multidisciplinary expertise on which we can constantly draw for any of our projects."
© Times of Oman 2013
