Dubai utility completes 53 per cent of M-Station expansion

Fifty-three per cent of the expansion of the M-Station, the newest and largest power production and water desalination plant in the UAE, has been completed by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, the utility announced today.

The total cost of M-Station will be AED 11.62 billion, while the estimated cost of the expansion project is AED 1.47 billion. The project will be completed and delivered by end of April 2018.

Two gas turbine generators will be inaugurated on 31st May 2017, which will be followed by the addition of two heat recovery steam turbine generators and one back-pressure steam turbine on 30 April 2018, DEWA said in a press release.

This will increase the plant’s thermal efficiency from 82.4 per cent to 85.8 per cent, which is considered one of the highest thermal-efficiency rates in the world.

The expansion project includes new power generation units with a capacity of 700MW to be added to the current capacity of the station to eventually produce 2,760MW by 2018. Its current total capacity is 2,060MW of electricity and 140 million imperial gallons of water per day (MIGD).

DEWA said it has completed 3.9 million safe man-hours without any injuries.

The M-Station was launched in 2013 at a cost of AED 10.15 billion. This includes AED 6.2 billion for electricity to provide 2060MW through 6 Siemens (F) model gas turbines with a capacity of 234MW each, 6 heat recovery steam turbine generators, and 3 back-pressure steam turbines with a capacity of 218MW each. The project has been completed in phases since mid-2010.

The desalination cost is AED 3.95 billion using 8 desalination units with multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) technology, with a capacity of 17.5 million MIGD for each unit, with a total of 140 million gallons per day.

There are two dual-fuel fired auxiliary boilers of 390 tonnes per hour and 16 fuel oil storage tanks each with a capacity of 20,000 cubic metres. The total fuel storage tank’s capacity is 320,000 cubic meters.

DEWA, which currently operates 21 (400kV) substations and 222 (132kV) substations, continues to build a strong infrastructure to enhance its installed capacity, which is currently 9,900MW of electricity and 470 million MIGD.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, was briefed today by representatives from Siemens on the project including its operational process and completion.