Old Bastakia

Dubai's Powerstation as it used to be.

This 1967 photo shows DEC's Diera Power Station completed and operational. Location is on Diera side of the Creek near to where Dubai Municipality is located today. Top left is the original Kuwaiti Embassy.

Dubai's Electricity Supply History

Dubai's Electrical Power Supply was originally provided by Merchants who imported generators,set up local distribution systems to which local Consumers could connect if they wished. These Merchants levied charges against each Consumer. This led to increasing competition, complexity of distribution and unreliability. Consumers suffered but had to pay for their pain!

Establishment of Dubai Electricity Company

Sheikh Rashid decided to overcome these problems by establishing a Public Company - Dubai Electricity Company - for the sole purpose of providing Dubai's Electrical Power. Public were offered the opportunity to invest with many of Dubai's Merchants becoming investors.

The newly constituted Board of Dubai Electricity Company decided to build a diesel engine powered generating station on the Diera side of the Creek. This was because (presumably) there were fewer buildings on that side of the Creek plus there was easy access to Dubai Creek as a source of cooling water for the generators' diesel engines.

Installation 1964

Dubai had few facilities in the 1960s. Offloading the heavy generators from ships offshore and moving these to the new Power Station presented a major handling problem. The problem was overcome in a unique way. Buildings and infrastructure for the Power Station were built on a site near to where the Dubai Municipality Building exists today. Overseas AST then dredged a channel to enable barges carrying the generator sets to be towed up Dubai Creek and brought close to the new site. Mobile cranes then lifted the generator sets into position in the Power Station.

Increasing Demand - Decreasing Use!

This 1967 photo shows the Power Station's location adjacent to Al Maktoum Street. Top right is the Municipality Transport Garage. Bottom of photo shows old Etisalat facility.

Dubai's growth led to increasing power demands and consequent building of Dubai's first gas turbine generating station in Jebel Ali. Diera Power Station became redundant less than 30 years after it was built. Diera Power Station was demolished to make way for shopping malls and office buildings.

Sheikh Rashid