Dubai will increase its power sector investment by nearly 50 per cent to Dh10 billion for new substations over the next three years as the emirate works to meet the rise in electricity demand.
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) announced on Sunday that it would build 97 new 132/11 kilovolt (kV) substations over the next three years, increasing from an earlier target.
Dewa managing director and chief executive, Saeed Al Tayer, said that the utility had begun building new stations at the Hassyan clean coal power plant, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park as well as Jebel Ali and Al Aweer. "Up until the end of last year, Dewa established a total of 222 132/11kV main substations, 16 of which were commissioned last year at a total cost of Dh2bn," he said.
Last year, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) announced that it would build 64 new 132/11 kilovolt (kV) substations valued at Dh6.7bn by 2020. But Dewa has upped that figure to Dh10bn in order to meet the rise in demand.
The utility’s current total production capacity reached 10,000 megawatts( MW) last year. Its peak load, or the time when the highest demand of power is needed such as during the day in August, was just under 8,000MW – a 4 per cent growth from 2015.
Overall, Dewa has allocated a total budget of Dh65bn over the next five years to meet the future demand. The utility currently serves around 800,000 customers. Mr Al Tayer added: "Dewa continuously adopts new strategies based on innovation to anticipate future challenges and opportunities."
lgraves@thenational.ae
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