Demand for power up 9%

KABEER YOUSUF -

Muscat, June 20 -

The demand for electricity has been growing at a rate of 9 per cent per annum in the Sultanate, thanks to increased construction and production activity.

“The cost of producing electricity has also reduced from 35.6 per cent to 30.3 per cent,” said Ali Said al Hadabi, CEO, Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC), on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Observer on the sidelines of the annual Nama Group press meet, Al Hadabi, however, said the benefit of reduction in production cost has not been passed on to end-users because of a pre-fixed tariff. He also said a 99 per cent electrification was achieved last year in remote villages and far-flung mountainous areas.

Earlier, speaking at the media gathering, Omar bin Khalfan al Wahaibi, CEO of Nama Group, “The group has invested RO 448 million on power distribution and transmission networks in 2016 compared with RO 394 million in 2015.”