Power shortages in Northern Emirates to be tackled by year-end

Abu Dhabi: Power shortages in the Northern Emirates will be brought under control by the end of this year, the Minister of Energy said on Tuesday.

“All the applications for power subscription by commercial buildings submitted until March will be met by the end of this year” said Suhail Mohammad Al Mazroui, who is also the chairman of the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa).

The minister said houses of Emiratis have top priority and all are connected to the grid. “By the end of 2009, applications for power subscription were scheduled and as many as 19,451 connections were done between 2010 and 2012. “Delay in connections happened only in Ajman because, Wasit power station is yet to compete by the end of this year,” Al Mazroui said.

The minister was responding to a question from Rashid Al Shuraiqi, a member from Ras Al Khaimah, who said the country lacked a comprehensive power strategy.

Al Mazroui said the UAE has a power strategy until 2020. “In the first phase which ended in 2011 and costing Dh2.7 billion, power production was increased by 52 per cent to 6,700 Megawat/Ambir and water installations were increased from 5,505 km to 5,518 km and water reserve from 110 million gallons to 223 million gallons. In the Dh2.17 billion second phase which will complete by the end of next year, the grid will be boosted to 7100 Megavolt/Ambir, while water connections will be increased to 5,882 km, and water reserve will be 278 million gallons.”

Al Mazroui added Fewa had asked all local and federal authorities to present their urban planning so that needs could be met.

Al Shuraiqi asked how would Fewa meet demand for power which grows by 20 per cent annually, while the power grid’s growth is only 6 to 8 per cent.

“More than 10,000 Emirati businessmen, who borrowed from banks to construct commercial buildings, lost huge amounts of money because they could not use their buildings and many of them ended up in jail,” Al Shuraiqi said.

He said that the demand for electricity in the Northern Emirates had been rising as much as 20 per cent a year, an expansion well beyond Fewa’s plans to provide for a 7 per cent increase in power demand.

“The UAE depends on water desalination to meet 95-98 per cent of needs of water. This also needs power,” he said.