| Kippreport.com

Forward planners meet the doom merchants

March 24, 2008 9:25 by Louis

That the UAE is developing at break-neck speed is a given. The problem is trying to understand at what speed. New figures from Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Co provide some insight: despite opening three new power plants, the UAE capital will have grown so quickly by 2012 that blackouts may be inevitable. It suggests demand for power will outstrip supplies by 6 per cent.

“Abu Dhabi will either have to order the construction of a new plant or extend the lifespan of current capacity,” the director of planning and studies at Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Co, Keith Miller, tells Bloomberg.

Abu Dhabi’s population is expected to rise from 930,000 in 2007 to 1.3mn in 2013, reaching 2mn by 2020 and more than 3mn by 2030. Power supplies will peak at just above 13,000 megawatts from 2012, but required capacity at that time will be 13,900 megawatts. Base demand will reach 17,500 megawatts by 2015, 20,000 megawatts by 2020, and 26,500 megawatts by 2030, more than double existing and planned capacity.

Expect power to become a real hot topic. The region certainly has the resources to build new power plants, but it might also pay to talk up power efficient options. With an excess of money sloshing around, now is the time for entrepreneurs with innovation energy solutions to step forward. There might be no better time to find investment. Where there are threats there are opportunities.