• Home
• /
• Local business

Abu Dhabi Faces no Demand-supply Gap 
in Power, Water, Say Top RSB Officials

This was disclosed by Nick Carter, Director-general of the bureauand its top officials Ali Al Mashjari, Khadija bin Braik and Tarik Khan during an interview with Khaleej Times.

“There’s no demand- supply gap in the power sector, for instance. This is partly because the bureau requires power companies to produce a seven-year plan showing production forecasts. This enables us to assess whether there is going to be sufficient supply. It’s not left to chance,” said Ali Al Mashjari, Production Manager at the RSB.

According to the just-published annual report of the bureau for 2008, the installed power generation capacity of the emirate is about 10,000 mw, and the hourly peak demand was only 6,620 mw last year. In the case of potable water, the installed capacity of the emirate is 684 million gallons per day (mgd), while last year’s transmission peak was only 614 mgd.

The bureau was established in 1999, when the water and electricity sectors in the emirate were restructured or ‘unbundled’. Nearly 95 per cent of the water and electricity consumed in Abu Dhabi is being produced by private producers (Independent Water and Power Producers, or IWPPs), and the emirate follows a ‘single buyer model’, where the entire output is purchased by a single entity (Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company). The network companies together have drawn an investment of Dh51.7 billion ($14 billion) since 1999, while the turnover of the sector as a whole was Dh12 billion ($3.3 billion) in 2008, marking a growth of ten to 15 per cent per annum..

Pointing out that the supply and safety of water and electricity is absolutely vital for the emirate, Nick Carter said: “the bureau ensures the quality and reliability of water, waste water and electricity services to the public and businesses.

“We undertake a great deal of work to protect the interests of customers in Abu Dhabi. This largely falls into five categories: granting licences to utility companies; issuing regulations to raise the standards of health and safety for customers and workers; monitoring energy costs; promoting efficiencies to protect the environment and advising government on policy decisions, ” said Ms Khadija, Waste Water Engineer at the RSB.

“The benefit of theregulationisthat people in Abu Dhabi are better off because they have safer power at fairer prices. A stronger utilities sector brings about business investments and better standards of public services. The final benefit is thatall these raise the standards of regulation across the region,” said Ali Al Mashjari.

“One of the advantages of having a regulator is that Abu Dhabi has much greater visibility of future supply and demand,” Ms Khadija said. As per the work plan prepared by the bureau, the power generation capacity of Abu Dhabi would grow to about 15,000 mw in 2013, while its water desalination capacity would rise to nearly 1000 mgd.

On the steps being taken by the RSB to avoid wastage of electricity and water, Tarik Khan, Electricity Manager at the RSB said: “Efficiency is really important and it is one of the primary areas of focus for the bureau. However, it is important to understand that a large amount of irrigation water here uses recycled water and not drinking water.”

ramavarman@khaleejtimes.ae