The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) is planning to sign agreements for three major power generation projects by the end of 2014, as part of the state utility’s efforts to boost capacity in the run up to hosting the Expo 2020 event.

Dewa is planning to sign agreements to develop an additional 1,300MW of new power capacity, through three new projects, by the end of 2014.

Speaking on the sidelines of a press event to launch Dubai’s Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (Wetex), Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer, managing director and chief executive officer of Dewa, said that the utility was planning to expand the capacity of its 2,030MW M Station power facility at Jebel Ali by 600MW. Al-Tayer also said that Dewa expected to award the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by the end of the year.

Dewa is also planning to sign the power purchase agreements (PPAs) for both the 100MW second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park independent power project (IPP) and the proposed 600MW first phase of its 1,200MW Hassyan clean-coal fired IPP by the end of 2014, said Al-Tayer.

In February, Dewa appointed a consortium led by UK’s EY (formerly Ernst & Young) as adviser for the planned 1,200MW Hassyan clean-coal fired IPP. The clean-coal project will be carried out in two 600MW phases, with the first phase set to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2020, and the second phase in the fourth quarter of 2020, said Al-Tayer.

MEED recently reported that financial and legal advisers for the 100MW second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park IPP.  Netherland’s KPMG has been appointed as financial adviser and the UK’s London Norton Rose Fulbright has been appointed as legal adviser for the planned solar project, which will utilise photovoltaic (PV) technology. The 100MW solar project is scheduled to be fully operational in 2017, said Al-Tayer.

While the current installed capacity of 9,700MW in Dubai was easily able to cope with the 6,500MW peak demand recorded in 2013, Dewa is pressing ahead with plans to boost the emirate’s capacity as demand for electricity is expected to grow by between 4.5 per cent and 5 per cent per year up until the Expo event in 2020.