THE global demand for electricity will soar during the next decade with an anticipated shortage of at least 600GW expected by 2015.
And, says Rupert Soames, group chief executive of energy rental company Aggreko Plc, "serious intervention" is needed now to meet this demand.
He said help was needed to provide both temporary power and permanent power facilities.
Soames was speaking yesterday at the launch of Aggreko's first service centre in South Africa - and the largest in Africa - in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.
The centre is one of 133 owned worldwide by the UK-based company, which is the world leader in the rental of power generation and temperature control equipment.
The service centre represents an initial R85-million investment by Aggreko.
Soames underlined the belief that economic growth in South Africa would result in strong demand for temporary power.
The centre will provide temporary power for manufacturing, shipping, process industries, mining and construction industries, as well as for major sporting events.
It will also be ready to support utility power projects.
"We are working on building a relationship with Eskom because it [Eskom] can definitely benefit from our equipment."
Aggreko has a long track record of providing power to major sporting events worldwide.
In the past 12 months, it has powered the Beijing Olympics and the European Football Championships.
In January, the company also supplied power for the inauguration of President Barack Obama,
"The fact that we are making, what is by any standards a significant investment in South Africa, underlines the confidence we have in the future development of the economy, and we intend to use our base here as a hub from which we can support our operations throughout southern Africa," Soames said.
