Dubai: Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), inaugurated the largest power production and water desalination plant in the UAE, M Station, on Monday in Jebel Ali.
With a capacity of 2.060 MW of electricity and 140 million imperial gallons (MIG) of desalinated water per day, the plant will produce around 20 per cent of power and desalinated water required to meet the demand in Dubai, which requires 5.9 MW of electricity and around 90 MIG of water.
Saeed Al Tayer, managing director and chief executive officer of Dewa, said: “The number of Dewa’s consumers has substantially increased this year, which automatically led to a remarkable rise in water and electricity consumption.”
The plant was built at a cost of more than Dh10 billion and in partnership with a number of international project consultants and contractors, including Fitcher, Doosan, Alstom, Fisia and Siemens.
The opening ceremony was attended by UAE ministers and top government officials, in addition to experts in the field, who were given an introductory tour of the station and its various divisions.
With 82.4 per cent efficiency rate, M Station has six F-class gas turbines, each of which generates 234 MW, three steam turbines, each generating 218 MW, eight MSF desalination units of 17.5 MIG per day, six heat-recovery boilers, two dual-fuel fired auxiliary boilers of 370 tons per hour and 16 fuel oil storage tanks each with a capacity of 20,000 cubic metres.
M-station will increase Dewa installed power capacity to 9.646 MW and water to 470 million imperial gallons per day, Al Tayer said.
Dewa currently has 10 power and water desalination plants and around 300 substations. Most of these stations are located either in Jebel Ali or in Aweer. M-Station is the largest followed by L-station PhII with a capacity of 1393 MW in electricity and 55 MIG of water, D-station with a capacity of 1027 MW in electricity and 35 MIG of water, L-station Ph I with a capacity of 969 MW in electricity and 70 MIG of water.
Increasing capacity
Dubai has a 30 per cent energy surplus, however, the completion of the M station will increase the power generation capacity in the emirates as well as the reserve, Al Tayer said.
“Dewa has enough reserves of electricity and water until 2020,” he said. “Moreover, the completion of one of Dewa’s biggest projects, the M station, will increase the power generation capacity from 8,700 megawatts to 9,600 megawatts, while desalinated water capacity would increase to 470 million gallons per day, compared to 330 million gallons per day last year.”
Dewa is working hard to reliably and efficiently meet consumers’ needs and develop projects in various economic and social sectors, and provide for the emirate’s requirements in electricity and water, he added.
The government is determined to pursue its developmental march steadily and push forward to implement its vital projects and steadily increase the installed capacity on an annual basis, Al Tayer said.
