Power patterns

The world will require 1,330 giga watts of new electric generating capacity in the next 15 years according to Hans Weinrich, head of the Sweden-based Asea Brown Boveri's (ABB) transmission and distribution unit. The new capacity would be distributed around the globe, with 15 per cent in the US, 20 per cent in OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries other than the US, 18 per cent in eastern Europe and the CIS, and 47 per cent in 100 developing countries. Total investment in new electric power facilities will be US $2.6 trillion, said Weinrich (ABB Newsletter, January 1996).