Malaysia’s MMC to build first Gulf coal power plant

The United Arab Emirates has signed a deal worth up to $2 billion for Malaysia Mining Corp Bhd to build the Gulf’s first coal-fired power plant.

The UAE sits on around 3.5 percent of the world’s total gas reserves and is the fifth-largest oil exporter. But like other big oil exporters in the region, the UAE is short of natural gas for power generation and is looking for alternatives.
“This demonstrates the absurdity of the gas shortage in the region,” said Mark Lewis, Managing Director of Energy Market Consultants. “It’s an energy producing country importing energy. The region is awash with gas but hasn’t developed supplies.”

The Gulf holds much of the world’s oil and gas reserves but has negligible coal, so power stations will need imports.

Gulf states Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain have all studied the possibility of building coal-fired power plants as they struggle with rising power demand and gas shortages.

Reuters