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Hook-up lag affects finished projects
As development in Dubai continues to gather pace, the demand for power is soaring. According to figures from the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), power consumption in 2006 rose by nearly 30%, and the emirate's power demands are expected to double by 2015.
Last month, DEWA announced a US $13.6 billion (AED50 billion) spending plan to boost its power generating capacity to 9,500MW by 2010.
But despite this massive investment, the current rate of construction is putting immense pressure on the authority, particularly when it comes to connecting new projects. A major difficulty lies in the efficiency of the power transmission network.
"The capacity of Dubai's energy supply is not the issue, it's the speed at which it can be distributed and supplied to new buildings," said Phil Burns, managing director, Aggreko Middle East.
Some new buildings have waited for months before being connected to the grid, according to Burns. Ongoing construction work in Dubai Festival City (DFC) has left some buildings dependent on temporary power generation - Ace Hardware has been using generators since it opened in May 2006.
"At times, the generators have gone off and we have had to make sure they're properly maintained," said Eric Julian, duty manager, Ace Hardware. "We have faced other problems such as fluctuating currents interfering with the bulbs."
Julian added that DEWA will be connecting the showroom to the grid this week.
"Because of all the construction around DFC, for DEWA to come and connect us is the last thing. They have to finish the construction of the roads before they can install electricity."
According to Derek Shepherd, managing director, Aggreko International, one of the challenges is distributing the power to connect new buildings. "Power is being generated in one place and has to be taken to another, but in the middle it's all construction. Physically, DEWA can't connect these new buildings," he said.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO, DEWA, insisted that any delays are the fault of the developer. "We are always ahead of plan, but sometimes we face contractor delays on projects. [Developers] have to give us a guarantee that they will finish on time. We are coping and we presently have around 5,000MW under construction."
He added: "The network is available in Dubai, and once a building is complete we are ready to lay the cables and install the transformers. There is good coordination between developers and DEWA and we've had discussions about [future] power requirements."
One way of tackling the pressure on power resources would be to explore alternative sources of energy. Although there has been mounting emphasis on sustainable building within the construction industry, the move towards renewable energy sources has been slow to take off in Dubai.
The main obstacle is that DEWA has so far opted not to open up the energy grid to other power suppliers.
"DEWA is the only power producer here and it will not open up the grid," said Tim Askew, regional managing director, Atkins Middle East.
"Economists here consider that it if a building produced solar energy this would reduce the consumption of electricity. But if a developer wants to input a power source into a building they need to get permission from DEWA, and they are reluctant to encourage this because it will mean opening up the grid," he added.
According to David McKenna, senior environmental consultant, Hyder Consulting, if the grid was opened up to renewable energy sources it would reduce the pressure on fossil fuels.
"If you produce your own energy you can't sell it back into the grid. I think this is something that needs to be taken up by DEWA. If they opened up their network to private companies investing in alternative energy such as wind and solar power, this would reduce the amount of fossil fuels being burnt."
James Hurley, head of the resource efficiency group, Hyder Consulting, said that measures such as these would ultimately benefit DEWA in the long-term.
"I think DEWA needs to look at its own resources and how it will sustain them over the next decade and century. The fuels we use to generate the energy are finite resources. DEWA will be able to sustain them over a longer period of time by adopting a more conversant energy supply system."
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