70% expect to suffer summer blackouts

Fears are growing among people living in the Gulf region that power supplies may not be able to cope with demand during the hotter than normal summer months.

An Arabian Business online poll conducted on Monday revealed that almost 70 percent of respondents were worried about the situation.

Of those, more than 25 percent expected the worse-case scenario with many regions experiencing a power meltdown, especially as air-conditioning units were more widely employed during the summer.

We ran the poll following news that industry experts had predicted $10 billion needed to be invested in power plants in the UAE to meet soaring power demand.

Tripp Lite, a manufacturer of power protection and connectivity equipment, said the swelling demand for power in the UAE is being fuelled by the rapid increase in population and unprecedented growth in the nation’s economy.

And last week, several areas of Saudi Arabia suffered blackouts, resulting in the loss of 3,400 megawatts from the network that links the Eastern and Central Regions of the kingdom, some 15 percent of the total supply of the network.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) also revealed last weekend that a power outage had affected production at some of its polyethylene and polypropylene plants in Jubail.

And many fear that blackouts could spread throughout the Gulf region unless urgent action is taken by governments.

Although the UAE government has announced plans to expand its 10-gigawatt production capacity by more than 50 per cent by 2017, 43 percent of poll respondents thought power plant proposals needed to be speeded up and made the number one priority.

Statistics obtained from the country's Ministry of Energy in the UAE in June showed that electricity demand is projected to hit 18,593MW in 2009, against a committed capacity of only 17,500MW.

But Ministry officials rejected suggestions that the emirates would suffer power shortages and blackouts, insisting instead that utility providers were doing their utmost to improve efficiency and reliability and to encourage consumers to use electricity more responsibly.

Seventeen percent of respondents agreed with this view, saying they hadn't experienced a blackout for months and did not expect to in the near future.

A further 15 percent said while they are normally confident about power supplies, they were more worried while the extreme heat continued and air-con units were working overtime.

The poll results come just a day after Egypt revealed it is to supply power-starved Lebanon with 200MW of electricity to help it meet a drastic shortfall.

According to state-run utility company Lebanon Electricity (EDL), the country needs 2,200MW of electricity to meet its daily needs but it currently generates only 1,700MW. However it also draws 100MW from Syria.

The country suffers daily power outages, including in the capital Beirut where many businesses have bought generators to tide them over during lengthy blackouts.