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Total installed electricity generating capacity in the UAE was 12,800 megawatts
(MW) at the end of 2004. This will increase to 19,400 MW by 2010 to meet the 6
to 7 per cent annual growth in demand dictated by the escalating needs of
industry and private consumers. Approximately 97 per cent of production is
fuelled by natural gas. Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah are responsible for 90 per
cent of capacity, with 14 federal plants in the smaller Northern Emirates
accounting for the remaining 10 per cent. Abu Dhabi, which has the largest
capacity and the highest growth in the industry, dominates electricity
production in the UAE.
Dubai, too, has raised its share of capacity. It has been importing gas from Sharjah since 1986, and from Abu Dhabi since 2001. Dubai is due to start importing natural gas from Qatar in late 2006. This will be transported via Dolphin’s 370-kilometre export pipeline to a terminal at Taweelah in Abu Dhabi, from where it will be piped to the centres of use, such as the Jebel Ali complex, the location of most of Dubai’s electricity and water capacity, and Fujairah’s new power and water complex at Qidfa (presently receiving gas from Oman).
Historically, all the UAE’s water requirements were met from groundwater obtained from shallow, hand-dug wells and the traditional falaj system of aquifers, as well as by the careful trapping of seasonal rainfall. Over the past two decades, however, increasing pressure on the UAE’s precious natural water resources has presented a real challenge for a country with no rivers and little rainfall. The UAE is now the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada. Annual water consumption in Abu Dhabi Emirate alone is estimated to be 2.486 billion cubic metres and Abu Dhabi’s water consumption is expected to increase to 5.858 billion cubic metres by 2020.
Although groundwater still plays a significant role in meeting agricultural demand throughout the Emirates, and more than half of the water distributed by the federal authority (FEWA) in the Northern Emirates is sweet groundwater, a high proportion of the UAE’s total requirements is being met by an extensive gas-fired desalination programme, with Abu Dhabi accounting for around half of the total desalinated water production in the UAE. Water production, as distinct from capturing groundwater, reached more than 195 billion gallons in 2004 (up from 130.5 billion gallons in 1996) .
In recent years water management initiatives have also included the restoration of traditional falaj irrigation systems, well-drilling and aquifer-testing and exploration. Supplementing new wells, over 130 recharge and storage dams have also been constructed to utilise an estimated 150 million cubic metres per year of wadi (seasonal river) flow from 15 main catchment areas. In addition, water conservation measures are being implemented throughout the Emirates, especially in the agricultural and amenity planting sector where plant suitability, crop replacement and drip irrigation techniques are being promoted to save water. Emirates such as Abu Dhabi are also educating the general public about the importance of water conservation.
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