Do you think Dewa’s services will improve if it partners with private firms?

Do you think Dewa’s services will improve if it partners with private firms?

The results are in.

January 24, 2010 12:19 by Aarti Nagraj

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) announced earlier this month that it is planning to sign its first contract with private investors for a power plant in order to cut costs. The authority initially said that the Hassyan project-a 1,500-megawatt electricity and water desalination plant, would be completed by 2013, but last week clarified that the project would be delayed.

“We delayed the Hassyan project because the forecast was higher initially,” Saeed Mohammad al-Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa said in a press conference. “We envisaged 15 percent growth, because twice we reached 15 percent: in 2006 and 2007. Now we expect 6 percent, so we have ample time,” he said.

Dewa has already received some offers for the project but they were “too expensive”. Abdullah al-Hajri, executive vice-president for customer service at Dewa told Gulf News last week: “Right now, we are not putting Hassyan up for privatization, but we are looking for consultancy on how to achieve this privatization,” he said.

Dewa plans to hire a consultant over the next 15 to 18 months, al-Tayer said.

The body has been planning to have private investors for two to three years, Waleed Ali Ahmed Salman, vice president of business development at Dewa told Bloomberg earlier this month, adding that the move wasn’t related to Dubai’s debt repayments. “This is the first time we’re taking such a step,” Salman said. “We’re very optimistic it will succeed.”

According to our poll, the majority of our respondents (42 percent) believe that Dewa’s services will improve with privatization, because of the extra competition.

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Tags: bills, DEWA, Dubai, ownership, private, water and power plant