Jebel Ali M Station ... to be completed next year.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has completed over 70 per cent of the M-Station expansion project, the newest and largest electricity generation and water desalination plant in the UAE.

This includes pouring 45,000 cu m of concrete (96 per cent complete), erecting 4,900 tonnes of structural steel and heavy metal work (75 per cent complete), and 8.3 million safe man-hours without any injuries.

Since 2015, Dewa has been working with Siemens on the Jebel Ali M-Station expansion, the total cost of which is Dh11.5 billion ($3.13 billion). The station’s total capacity will reach 2,885 MW when the expansion is completed in 2018. This includes the provision of new power generating units, adding 700 MW to the installed generation capacity of M-Station.

The expansion project includes the addition of two dual-fuel gas turbine generators, two heat-recovery steam boilers, and a steam turbine that is 90 per cent fuel efficient. This will increase the plant’s thermal efficiency from 82.4 per cent to 85.8 per cent, which is one of the highest thermal-efficiency rates in the world.

Dewa is building a robust infrastructure to enhance its total production capacity, which is currently 10,200 MW of electricity and 470 million gallons of desalinated water per day (mgpd).

M-Station has a current total capacity of 2,185 MW of electricity and 140 mgpd. The station adopts the highest levels of availability, reliability, and efficiency, using the most advanced technologies in the world. It is equipped with the latest smart devices and sophisticated heavy-duty technological systems. M-Station was built at a cost of Dh10.15 billion ($2.76 billion).

The project has been implemented in phases since mid-2010. Water desalination systems costing Dh3.95 billion ($1.1 billion) use eight desalination units.