Peak power demand in Qatar will rise by 11 per cent from 2010 to reach 5,500MW in 2011, said Abdulsattar al-Rasheed, chief executive officer of the Ras Abu Fontas power plant for Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC).

Al-Rasheed was speaking at the Qatar Infrastructure Projects 2011 conference in London on 6 July.

Power demand in the state has consistently recorded double-digit growth with a 12 per cent rise to 5,090MW in July 2010 from 4,535MW in 2009. Despite this, Qatar still has a power generating surplus of a massive 40 per cent having invested heavily in new capacity. This will be sufficient until 2015 when another 2,000MW power station will be required.