Dubai Property prices are rising again

Dubai Property prices are rising again

Dubai property prices rose in the third quarter for the first time since the emirate’s property market crashed late last year, but are still almost 50% lower than a year earlier, U.K.-based real estate consultancy Colliers International said Tuesday. Prices increased 7% between July and September from the second quarter — the first price jump since the market fell from its peak in the third quarter of 2008, Colliers said in its quarterly price index, which collates mortgage transactions on properties open to foreign ownership since the start of 2007.

Annual prices, however, remain 47% lower, and are currently at the same level as those recorded in the second quarter of 2007. The number of market transactions rose 64% during the third quarter of 2009 on a quarterly basis. “The third quarter results indicate a ‘bounce’ in the market but we will have to wait for the fourth quarter results before we can say whether an underlying growth profile exists, indicating a potential recovery,” said Ian Albert, Colliers International regional director in Dubai.

The average price of property rose to 1,016 United Arab Emirates dirhams ($278) per square foot in the quarter, compared with 949 dirhams a quarter earlier. Apartment prices rose 6%, while villa prices increased 9% and townhouses gained 7%. Colliers said the rise in prices was mainly due to an increased availability of mortgage financing and a perceived increase in job security among expatriate workers. The consultancy firm said the volume of new units coming on to the market next year may suppress average prices in 2010, but added that “certain tier one developments will offer investors oases of performance, predicated upon a return to fundamentals outlook.”

Property prices in Dubai were rising sharply as recently as the first half of 2008. Prices rose 42% in the first quarter of 2008, 16% in the second quarter and 5% in the third quarter, according to previous Colliers reports. However, in the third quarter of 2008, as the impact of the global crisis drew in on the emirate, prices fell sharply and are yet to recover. Prices between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 tumbled 42%, according to Colliers, but the rate of decline slowed to 9% between the first quarter and second quarter of this year. “We’ll have to wait until the fourth quarter to see how strong this underlying growth is,” Mr. Albert told Zawya Dow Jones. “By then we’ll know if a trend is developing

from - http://dubaiinformer.com/1750/dubai-property-prices-are-rising-again/

Oil market well supplied, says UAE energy minister

Oil market well supplied, says UAE energy minister
By GN Dubai Business News - Mon Feb 14, 2011 - 4:11 pm
Abu Dhabi: The UAE's oil production currently is around 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), in line with the output target set for the country by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Minister for Energy Mohammad bin Dha'en Al Hamli said here on Monday.
The UAE's current oil production capacity was 2.8 million bpd, Al Hamli told reporters on the sidelines of an energy event here.
Commenting on high oil prices, which have shot above $100 a barrel, Al Hamli said: "Oil prices react to events and they have reacted to events in Egypt," said Al Hamli.


"The market is well-supplied. The price can't be explained by current fundamentals. The stocks are high," he added.
Political instability and public uprising in Egypt which eventually led to Hosni Mubarak stepping down as the president of Egypt, enabled oil prices to shoot up. It is widely believed that speculators are driving the oil prices higher rather than the fundamentals of supply and demand

Dubai peak demand for power rises

Dubai peak demand for power rises
Dubai's peak electricity demand last month was 9.6 per cent higher than in July of last year, despite sluggish economic growth. Power demand in the emirate reached 6,161 megawatts at its highest last month, up by 539mw from a peak of 5,622mw in the same month last year, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) reported yesterday. The state-run utility also said last month's peak water demand of 287 million gallons a day was 5.9 per cent higher than for July last year.
"The continuing increase in demand for water and electricity in Dubai is a clear indication that the economic, commercial and construction cycles in Dubai returned to their previous prosperous conditions," said Saeed al Tayer, the managing director and chief executive of DEWA. "The increasing rates of consumption of electricity and water are linked to the economic growth, and these rates are expected to rise during the current month of August."



Mr al Tayer said DEWA was expanding Dubai's power and water transmission and distribution networks to keep pace with industrial and urban expansion. The utility said its total installed power generation capacity stood at 7,830mw. Water desalination capacity was 330 million gallons a day. But electricity consumption data published on DEWA's website shows the emirate's peak annual power demand, which is typically reached in July or August, has been rising continuously in recent years, regardless of economic growth.
At the height of the recent property boom between the summers of 2007 and 2008, Dubai's peak electricity demand climbed 551mw or 11.6 per cent. The following year, it rose by another 335mw or 6.3 per cent, despite the property downturn and that of the local economy. According to the latest available Government statistics, Dubai's GDP reached a record Dh301.6 billion (US$82.11bn) in 2008, up 14.1 per cent from the previous year

from - http://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/dubai-peak-demand-for-power-rises

Dubai tower exports 10 times more renewable energy than needed

The 10 MW Tower proposed for Dubai is quite a renewable energy machine. The skyscraper pumps out 10 times the amount of energy it needs to export power to the surrounding neighborhood.
Studied Impact, the architects who designed the 10 MW Tower, note that the tower has three energy producing systems: a horizontal axis wind turbine, a concentrated solar power armature and an updraft tower.
The architectural firm, which is led by Robert Ferry, notes

The 10 megawatt measurement is the capacity of the tower. Based on local meteorological data the 3MW CSP and 2MW SU will operate for 2,400 hours per year. The 5MW HAWT would be operational for approximately 1,600 hours per year and much of that operation will be during the night when the other two systems are inoperable. The yearly output then of the building will be approximately 20,000MWh. The estimated embodied energy in the structure, the finishes and the construction of the 130,000m2 (GFA) building is estimated at 360,000MWh and the tower will neutralize its entire existence impact in less than 20 years through the clean energy it will generate—the first skyscraper ever to do so.

Pretty heady stuff. Inhabitat adds that the 10 MW Tower will be set off in a lot where it has clear access to sunlight on all sides.

from - http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/dubai-tower-exporting-10-times-more-renewable-energy-than-needed/4951/

UAE's Masdar partners with Total and Abengoa Solar to build world's largest CSP plant in Abu Dhabi

UAE's Masdar partners with Total and Abengoa Solar to build world's largest CSP plant in Abu Dhabi
Masdar, Abu Dhabi's multi-faceted initiative advancing the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions, has appointed the bidding consortium of Total and Abengoa Solar as a partner to own, build and operate Shams 1, the world's largest concentrated solar power plant and the first of its kind in the Middle East.
One of Masdar's flagship projects, Shams 1 will directly contribute towards Abu Dhabi's target of achieving 7% renewable energy power generation capacity by the year 2020.
The joint venture between Masdar (60%), Total (20%) and Abengoa Solar (20%) will develop, build, operate and maintain the plant which will be located in Madinat Zayed, approximately 120 kilometres southwest of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Shams 1 will be the largest concentrated solar power plant in the world, extending over an area of 2.5 km?, with a capacity of approximately 100 MW and a solar field consisting of 768 parabolic trough collectors to be supplied by Abengoa. Construction is set to begin during Q3 and is expected to take approximately two years.
Shams 1 is registered as a project under the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and is eligible for carbon credits. It is be the first CSP plant registered under the CDM and the second project registered for Masdar. The plant will displace approximately 175,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to planting 1.5 million trees or removing 15,000 cars from Abu Dhabi's roads. – Emirates News Agency, WAM

Dubai tower exports 10 times more renewable energy than needed

Dubai tower exports 10 times more renewable energy than needed
By Larry Dignan
The 10 MW Tower proposed for Dubai is quite a renewable energy machine. The skyscraper pumps out 10 times the amount of energy it needs to export power to the surrounding neighborhood.
Studied Impact, the architects who designed the 10 MW Tower, note that the tower has three energy producing systems: a horizontal axis wind turbine, a concentrated solar power armature and an updraft tower.
The architectural firm, which is led by Robert Ferry, notes:

The 10 megawatt measurement is the capacity of the tower. Based on local meteorological data the 3MW CSP and 2MW SU will operate for 2,400 hours per year. The 5MW HAWT would be operational for approximately 1,600 hours per year and much of that operation will be during the night when the other two systems are inoperable. The yearly output then of the building will be approximately 20,000MWh. The estimated embodied energy in the structure, the finishes and the construction of the 130,000m2 (GFA) building is estimated at 360,000MWh and the tower will neutralize its entire existence impact in less than 20 years through the clean energy it will generate—the first skyscraper ever to do so.

Pretty heady stuff. Inhabitat adds that the 10 MW Tower will be set off in a lot where it has clear access to sunlight on all sides.
Here are a few images via Studied Impact

from-http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/dubai-tower-exporting-10-times-more-renewable-energy-than-needed/4951/