The UAE's temporary power sector is expected to grow by 25 per cent year-on-year with major demand coming from Dubai, according to experts in the industry.
With the growing population and mega scale industrial and real estate developments, demand for power is estimated to rise considerably. "Currently, the Gulf has more than 2,000 major projects in sectors such as oil and gas, infrastructure, power and water and petrochemicals, valued at an estimated $1 trillion (Dh3.6trn) and we expect temporary power sector to grow by 25 per cent until 2015," Colin Cave, General Manager - Northern Gulf of Rental Solutions and Services, told Emirates Business. "The UAE alone has 743 major construction projects. Each project has several buildings, facilities and utilities. Let us presume that each major project requires 400 amps of power. Even if we consider this on the very conservative side we will need 297,200 amps of power – approximately 240MVA," said Cave.
"It is difficult to answer the exact size of the temporary power sector in the region as there are no official independent figures to verify this against. However, our estimate of the total rental market in Middle East would be in the order of $300 million to $400m of which we have an estimated 50 per cent to 60 per cent share. Globally, we estimate the energy rental market to be valued at up to $3 billion," Julian Ford, business development director of Aggreko International, said.
Aggreko has provided power to a number of Dubai-based developments, such as Dubai Festival City, during the construction phases and until the national power distribution lines are set up.
"In Dubai, Dewa currently has a generating capacity of around 5,500 MW, with a further 1,800 MW of capacity being added this year alone. As we all know, the power supply in the UAE, and Dubai in particular, is highly reliable. The issue in Dubai is the availability of power connections for new building projects," he said.
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