Yemen Says Gulf States Promise to Build Three Power Stations

By Mohammed Hatem - Jan 19, 2012

Gulf states promised to provide Yemen with power stations able to generate 450 megawatts of electricity to help with energy shortages in the Arab world’s poorest nation, Yemeni Electricity Minister Saleh Sumai said.

Three facilities will be set up in different regions and will be connected to national power stations, Sumai said in an interview with the army’s 26 September newspaper. There were also pledges to provide mobile power stations to cover provinces including Marib and Sanaa, Sumai said, adding that he expected an announcement to be made during a donor meeting on Yemen in Riyadh in March.

Yemen’s state-owned Public Electricity Corporation operates an estimated 57 percent of the country’s electricity-generating capacity of about 1,200 megawatts as well as the national power grid, according to the Electricity Ministry.

The gas-powered Marib station, which began operating in 2010, was closed down after attacks by tribesmen that continue and which, Sumai said, are politically motivated. He didn’t elaborate.