(ASHOK VERMA)   

 
 

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has delivered power and water supplies to all development projects as requested by developers in Dubai without any delay, the chief of the state-owned utility company told Emirates Business.

 

“Projects don’t get delayed due to shortage of power generation capacity. This is because bulk power facilities are built beforehand for all developments provided the developers approach Dewa at the initial stage of their projects,” said Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of Dewa.

 

Al Tayer’s comments came after Emirates Business published a report on March 18 quoting developers saying Dewa was one of the reasons behind the delay in completion of construction projects.

 

According to Al Tayer, Dewa “proactively engages developers and their consultants” as its partners to provide Dewa with their plans at an early stage, provide essential requirements of plots and right-of-ways and keep the public utility informed through updates to overcome associated lead times.

 

“Failure on the part of a developer to do so may compromise that end,” he said.

Al Tayer reiterated that although Dewa is facing excessive demand growth rates, the company is not facing any shortages and difficulties experienced by others.

 

“We can quote so many examples of power stations that were constructed purposely for private developments and yet left without proper utilisation for long periods of time due to delays of the development projects themselves,” he said.

 

He said Dewa, to further show its full commitment to ensure timely supply, has detailed plans up to 2018.

 

Dubai’s electricity demand is set to reach 5,400 megawatts this year and will further jump to 8,513MW and 16,000MW in 2011 and 2015, respectively.

 

Water demand for 2008 is 250 million imperial gallons per day and will grow to 341MIGD and 800MIGD in 2011 and 2015.

 

Al Tayer said the current electricity generation capacity of the Dewa system is about 5,000MW while ongoing projects will commission another 5,000MW with their associated networks by 2010. Dewa’s capacity is expected to increase to 20,000MW of electricity and 1,000MIGD of water by 2020, he added.