Dubai - Jan 24th 2006 (WAM) - Dubai Property Group (DPG), theassociation of real estate professionals, today hosted the DubaiElectricity and Water Authority (DEWA) at its monthly Networkingevent, where DEWA officials discussed the Authority's currentand future plans, and mechanics they have instituted to managerapidly growing demand for water and electricity in Dubai.
Khaled Lootah, Executive Vice President, Project and EngineeringDivision and Yousef Jebril, Vice President - Corporate Strategyand Planning at DEWA discussed the opportunities and challengeswith regard to the burgeoning real estate sector, especiallywith the difficulties faced in keeping up with estimating andkeeping up with demand, according to a press release.
"We estimate a substantial growth in peak water demand whichwill reach 341 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) by theyear 2011," said Khaled Lootah. "Our objectives for power andwater supply over the next few years are to utilize technologyto increase capacity, utilize desalination and effectively increaseour transmission and distribution facilities to meet demand,while at the same time maintaining world class safety levelsand cost effectiveness." The DEWA officials also shared somestatistics from the year 2005, where annual daily peak demandfor water reached about 200 MIGD while peak demand for electricityreached over 3,500 megawatts (MW).
"Our planning framework involves forecasting demand for powerand water and making sure meet that demand by constantly evaluatingexisting system capabilities, identifying and rectifying anydeficiencies, evaluating techo-economic schemes and selectingthe most optimal options then implementing on those results,"said Yousef Jebril. "We estimate that electricity demand willreach 8,513 MW per day by 2011, an increase of more than 100%from 2005 numbers." The speakers highlighted the planning difficultiesthey face, that revolve around accuracy in analyzing demand createdby the growing population and the development of new real estateprojects to absorb rising demand. The major factor is in thefact they do not receive accurate power and water demand datafrom developers, which means that DEWA has to over invest inits infrastructure or risk facing shortages in supply.
These, coupled with the rapid changes that are happening inthe real estate sector, and at extreme short notice, are placingimmense pressure on DEWA's infrastructure.
"This event was a great opportunity for DEWA and the real estatecommunity to exchange views on how best to deal with the issuesand challenges they face through a meaningful dialogue and adirect exchange of information," said Adel Lootah, ExecutiveDirector of Dubai Property Group. "DPG will take these issuesforward to make sure that a healthy, mutually beneficial, exchangeof ideas continues to develop to insure that Dubai's real estateboom is managed effectively."
