Abu Dhabi power demand to triple

POWER PROBLEM: Adwec said electricity demand was set to triple by 2015 as Abu Dhabi's economy continues to expand. (Getty Images)

Abu Dhabi's only power firm said on Tuesday it will have to invest heavily to meet spiralling demand which was expected to triple by 2015 on a boom in the Gulf emirate's construction and industry sectors.

"Massive investments are needed in the long term to expand existing power generation units and build new plants," said Keith Miller, director for planning and studies at the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company (Adwec).

The emirate's peak demand stood at about 5,286 megawatts and was expected to surge to 8,276 megawatts in 2010 and 14,946 megawatts in 2015, he told a conference organised by the Middle East Economic Digest (Meed).

"Adwec will have additional capacity to meet long-term demand and new plants will be built. We have plenty of time," he said. "... capacity currently exceeds demand," he added without giving an estimate for the cost of the envisaged expansions.

State-owned Adwec's power capacity stood at 8,312 megawatts at the end of 2006 and 668 million gallons of water per day (gpd). Miller said demand for water was expected to double by 2030 to 1.2 billion gpd from 560 million gpd.

The economy of the UAE, like in other Gulf oil exporting nations, is booming on a more than five-fold increase in crude oil prices in the last six years.

Power demand was also growing due to a rapid growth in the population, which is expected to surge to nearly 3.17 million by 2030 from around 1.3 million at present, he said.

Oil products are the main source of energy for power generation and water disalination plants in the region, but the UAE plans to build a nuclear energy plant. (Reuters)

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (0 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.