Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) expects demand for power and water to increase by 6 per cent this year as more property is built and the population grows ahead of Expo 2020.
“We are seeing an increase of 5 to 6 per cent in demand for power, and about 6 per cent in water [demand] this year,” Saeed Al Tayer, the Dewa managing director and chief executive, said at the opening of the utility’s Mai Dubai water bottling factory.
The emirate’s current peak load is 7,233 megawatts of electricity and 316 million imperial gallons per day of desalinated water.
Last week, it awarded a Dh1.47 billion contract to Siemens to expand M-Station, the emirate’s biggest power and water desalination plant, by 700MW by 2018.
Last month Dewa increased its target for solar power to 15 per cent of total capacity by 2030, up from 5 per cent previously. It also announced that it would tender 500MW of solar power next year as part of the 1,000MW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park.
By June, Dewa expects to award contracts for Dubai’s first clean coal-powered plant. The Hassyan plant is expected to produce 1,200MW by 2020.
“Yearly we are exceeding Dh8bn in [capital expenditure],” Mr Al Tayer said.
Dewa has committed to projects worth Dh20bn so far.
The utility provider’s annual profit climbed to Dh5.48bn last year, up by 12.7 per cent on 2013.
With its increased profits last year, Dewa expects to repay a US$1bn bond in April.
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