The use of natural gas for power generation is a recent phenomenon, emerging during the 1980s and 1990s; it is strongly linked with the development of stationary gas turbines for power generation, and particularly with the combined cycle gas turbine configuration. The latter became particularly attractive in the liberalized electricity markets which were developing at the same time in many parts of the world. The US and Japan were the first two countries to use gas extensively for power generation, the latter using LNG imports. The use of natural gas for power generation is predicted to grow over the medium term but such predictions need to be tempered by the fact that the price of gas is beginning to rise dramatically in some parts of the world.