Increased participation by independent private companies in the UAE’s utilities sector will play an important role in the coming years as the country explores ways to meet its growing power requirements, according to the UAE’s utilities authorities.
“The UAE has seen double-digit increase in the demand for electricity in the past few years and is expected to continue seeing rapid growth in the coming years,” said Dr. Matar Al Neyadi, Undersecretary at the UAE Ministry of Energy. “In order to meet this demand, the UAE has allowed private power and water companies to participate in its energy sector for a number of years. More recently, due to the rapid growth in demand for power and water in the country, Dubai and the federal government have both launched initiatives to permit private sector participation in the generation of electricity and water.” Al Neyadi was speaking at the opening of the 3rd Annual Global Independent Water and Power Projects (IWPP) Summit in Dubai today. The two-day event features government authorities, policy-makers, regulatory authorities, utilities companies, financial institutions and technology leaders and supported by the Government of Dubai, UAE Ministry of Energy, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) and Utico Middle East, the region’s largest private full-service utilities provider.
Source : WAM News Agency for United Arab Emirates