(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Dubai utility will decide next year on a plan to refinance its debt maturing in 2013 after considering all the options available, managing director and chief executive officer Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said.
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, or Dewa, is assessing whether it may need to raise cash by selling conventional or Islamic bonds, securitising assets, or borrowing from export credit agencies or banks to pay what it will owe in 2013, according to the authority's chief.
"We will see what is the most competitive and what is the best rate that we are going to obtain, and we'll decide based on that," Al Tayer told Bloomberg at the MENA Renewable Energy conference on Tuesday.
Dewa has already repaid all debit it owed in 2012, according to Al Tayer. Dewa repaid Dh1.2 billion of loans ahead of schedule in March.
The utility is due to pay Dh3.2 billion in Islamic bonds, or sukuk, in June next year, according to Bloomberg data. Earlier addressing the forum, Al Tayer said that the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park would play a major role in meeting Dubai's energy needs. The first phase of the plant will be in operation before end of year 2013, he added.
The Solar Park will have a 1,000MW capacity by 2030, and, upon completion, will be one of the biggest solar parks in the region, and possibly beyond, he said, adding that this will make a substantial contribution to Dubai's future energy needs.
"By 2030, Dubai's average energy growth is projected to be in the range of 4-5 per cent per annum and our target under the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, is to reduce energy consumption by 30 per cent through the implementation of enhanced energy-efficient initiatives and, by the same token, to significantly reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide," he said.
Currently, the combined power generation and desalinated water production in Dubai are most-efficiently produced using natural gas and LNG as the primary fuel (99 per cent), and supplemented by liquid fuel and diesel oil as a secondary fuel (one per cent).
"As per the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy, by 2030 Dubai will have diversified its fuel mix by adding new energy sources such as 12 per cent from clean coal, five per cent from renewable energy including solar power, 12 per cent from nuclear power and 71 per cent from gas," Al Tayer added.
"At Dewa, we share the same goals as the rest of the world to secure a diverse and sustainable energy supply, through the integration of renewable energy into our energy mix, rationalisation of consumption and reduction of our carbon footprint," he concluded.
