Abu Dhabi, the biggest member of the United Arab Emirates, is witnessing an increase in demand for electricity by up to 11 percent year on year.

At a MEED conference Tuesday, Abdullah Saif Al-Nuaimi, head of the privatization directorate at ADWEA said that this year has seen an increase by 10 to 11 pct in demand as compared to last year.

Abu Dhabi, which is also world's third-largest oil exporter, is busy constructing infrastructure and industry in order to move away from dependence on oil. At present, it is witnessing rapid growth in demand of water and electricity.

A report forwarded by ADWEA specifies that in 2009, demand for electricity in Abu Dhabi was 6,255 megawatts.

As of now, Abu Dhabi's capacity for power generation was 13,000 megawatts (MW). Al-Nuami told that they have no shortages in Abu Dhabi.

It will be by 2013 when Abu Dhabi is predicted to complete work and bring online the Shuweihat 3 independent power project (IPP).

"The plant is the ninth power project under a privatization plan launched in 1998, under which international developers take a stake in the project. Investments for the privatization of power plants in the emirate were around $65 billion dirhams," said Al-Nuami.

The plant is operated by foreign investors under the IPP model.