ABU DHABI, 20 October 2003 — President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, currently on his first foreign visit, toured a major power project that meets this city’s electricity requirements.
Accompanied by Health Minister Abdul Rahman Al-Midfa, the head of the honorary mission accompanying the Indian president, and Saeed Mohammed Al-Shamsi, UAE’s ambassador to India, Kalam visited the Umm Al-Nar electricity generating plant on Saturday.
Kalam went on a familiarization tour of the plant and was briefed on the activities and operations of the plant by the Arab Energy Company CEO Edward Mitkafe.
Mitkafe said the plant currently produces 880 MW of electricity an hour and 162 million gallons of water a day.
Its electricity output is expected to rise to 1,550 MW an hour, while water production will reduce to 96 million gallons a day according to the company’s future plan.
Seven control stations will be merged into one with a computerized control system. Mitkafe said two more new units, one for electricity generation and the other for water desalination, would soon be added to the station.
Kalam commended the UAE’s comprehensive achievements under the leadership of President Sheikh Zayed ibn Sultan Al-Nahayan.
Kalam will inspect the Indian pavilion at Gitex 2003, the Middle East’s largest IT show in Dubai. India is the biggest participant at the show.
