• Home
• /
• Energy

Dubai power demand up

Power consumption in Dubai surged 3.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2012, compared to the same period of last year, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, or Dewa, said on Monday.

Power demand in Dubai, the Middle East’s largest financial and trading hub, peaked at 6,165 MW (megawatts) in the second quarter starting from April 1 to June 30, up from a peak of 5,941 MW in the second quarter of 2011, the state-run utility said.

The utility said the electricity production levels surged three per cent to 9605 GW/hour compared to 9329 GW/hour during the same 2011 period.

“In line with the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to strengthen the position of the emirate as a global hub for finance, business, and tourism, our efforts at Dewa are part of the strategic plan to maintain high levels of production, distribution, and transmission networks to fulfill the growing demand on our services. In addition, Dewa executes all projects based on specific projections and demand growth forecasts for successful completion,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and chief executive of Dewa.

“Our main focus at Dewa is to continue improving our production, distribution, and transmission capacity to strengthen the infrastructure and meet the growing demand of all sectors on electricity and water,” said Al Tayer.

The utility said it witnessed an increase in the number of new electricity meters by the end of June to 616,492 compared with 588,998 — an increase of 4.66 per cent compared to last year, while construction works are underway in 26 main substations with a 132 KV capacity covering all areas of Dubai.

Analysts said the third quarter would likely witness a higher consumption rate than the corresponding 2011 period given this year’s relatively hotter summer, normally a peak demand months.

In April, Dewa deferred its $1.3 billion Hassyan independent power project, as it was able to boost existing production capacity and improve conservation to meet growing demand. The plant has been designed to have a capacity to generate about 1,600 megawatts of power.

The utility said it had succeeded in raising the efficiency and production capacity of its existing power plants at Jebel Ali Power Station by around 450 mega watts, by innovation and use of the latest technologies, for a fraction of the costs of installing new generating units of the same capacity. Dewa also succeeded in reducing line losses in its electrical network to 3.49 per cent in 2011, down from 6.28 per cent in 2001.

In 2011, the utility achieved an 18.4 per cent increase in installed power generation capacity and a 21.2 per cent increase in water desalination capacity in 2011.

Dewa increased its power generation capacity to 8,718 megawatts in 2011 from 7,361 MW in 2010, while desalinated water production capacity increased to 400 million gallons per day compared with 330 million in 2010.

The UAE’s power sector has been seeing a rapid growth in tandem with the economic growth it has achieved over the last decade. Power generation capacity in the UAE grew at a compounded rate of 12 per cent per annum during the past five years and current capacity stands at about 30,000MW. Power consumption meanwhile grew at a slightly lesser pace of eight per cent per annum during the same period.

issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com