Gulf Construction Online - UAE set to be a ‘net power exporter’

UAE Focus

UAE set to be a ‘net power exporter’

01 October 2012

POWER generation capacity in the UAE is growing at a higher pace than consumption – ensuring energy security for the country and also making the UAE a net power exporter to the neighbouring countries, once the GCC power grid becomes operational, according to a leading investment banking institution.

Power generation capacity in the UAE has grown at a compounded rate of 12 per cent per annum during the last five years and current capacity stands at about 30,000 MW while power consumption grew at a slightly lesser than eight per cent per annum during the same period, according to a latest report by Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz).

“The power sector in the Emirates had been seeing a rise in tandem with the economic growth it has achieved over the last decade,” it said.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) recently reported a seven per cent increase in the capacity and efficiency of its electricity transmission networks to 6,637 MW compared with 6,206 MW for all year 2011.

Currently 98 per cent of the UAE power plants are fired by natural gas and the remaining two per cent are run by liquid fuels. The contribution of natural gas as fuel in the power sector is just 49 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 29 per cent in Kuwait.

“Over the next four years, we estimate consumption to grow at 8.5 per cent annually, with much of the growth coming from Abu Dhabi. While Dubai expects consumption to grow at 3.5 per cent over the next decade and at 2.5 per cent from 2020-30, Abu Dhabi expects demand to grow by 11 per cent annually till 2015,” the report stated.

Large investments in alternate energy are expected to change the country’s energy landscape in the coming years. Abu Dhabi’s Economic Vision 2030 aims at generating seven per cent of its energy requirements from the renewable resources.