Dubai: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) plans to commission the first private sector power plant, delayed for over a year, in the third quarter of 2014, according to Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, Dewa's managing director and CEO.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Al Tayer attributed the delay in commissioning of the plant to slow growth in Dubai's demand for power, which is expected to grow at six per cent annually compared with the 15 per cent initially envisaged.
"We delayed the Hassyan project because the forecast was higher initially," Al Tayer said. "We envisaged 15 per cent growth, because twice we reached 15 per cent: in 2006 and 2007. Now we expect 6 per cent, so we have ample time."
Dewa is looking to hire a consultant for the privatisation of 1,500 megawatts of the Hassyan power plant. Although it has received a couple of offers for the project, the offers were "too expensive" said Abdullah Al Hajri, executive vice-president for customer service at Dewa.
"At more than Dh4,000 per kilowatt, the prices were higher than in the international market," Al Tayer said."
Consultancy
"Right now, we are not putting Hassyan up for privatisation, but we are looking for consultancy on how to achieve this privatisation," Al Hajri said. "Once we hire the consultant, then we will find the best way to privatise that particular project," he said.
Dewa plans to have an advisory consultant over the next 15 to 18 months, Al Tayer said.
Dewa expects its cap-acity to rise from 7,000 megawatts last year to 10,000 megawatts this year, Al Tayer said. Only 1,500 megawatts will be studied for privatisation.
Today, Dewa became the first governmental department in the UAE to receive the Social Accountability Certification SA8000-2008 from Bureau Veritas, the international inspection and certification company.
