Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has confirmed that the current production capacity of Hassyan Power Complex reached 1,200 megawatts (MW), using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model.

A further 600 MW will be added in Q4 of 2022, and an additional 600 MW will be added by Q3 of 2023. This will raise the capacity of Hassyan Power Complex, which has been converted recently to run only on natural gas instead of clean coal, to 2,400 MW.

The Hassyan Power Complex was initially designed and built for purpose as a dual-fuel plant with the ability to operate full-time on both natural gas and clean coal. It now relies only on natural gas.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dewa, said that the Hassyan Power Complex adds to the Jebel Ali Power Plant and Water Desalination Complex, as one of the critical pillars to providing Dubai with electricity and water services according to the highest standards of reliability, efficiency, and quality.

Jebel Ali has a total production capacity of 9,547 MW of electricity. Dewa’s full production capacity is now 13,417 MW, including 1,527 MW of renewable energy using photovoltaic solar panels from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, he added.

“The Hassyan Power Complex, which uses the IPP model, adopts the latest technologies in energy production. The power plant’s turbines were originally designed to operate on dual fuels: gas and clean coal. So, when we decided to convert the complex to run on natural gas, there was no downtime, and the conversion process went smoothly,” Al Tayer said.

The Hassyan Power Complex includes a water desalination project with a production capacity of 120 Million Imperial Gallons Per Day using Reverse Osmosis (RO) and the Independent Water Producer model. New RO stations are currently underway, as they use less energy than Multi-Stage Flash, which makes it the best option for water desalination.

Meanwhile Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has completed the extension of 394 kilometres of Fibre Optic (FO) ducts in 2021 across different areas in Dubai. This increased the total length of these cables ducts since 2015 and until the end of last year to 3,275 kilometres. The external FO ducts protect and direct all Fibre Optic (FO) Cables in communication, data transfer and remote operations. This enhances Dewa’s infrastructure of FO and its smart grid and accelerates the digital transformation of Dewa.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa, said that the project is part of Dewa’s continuous efforts to expand the Fibre Optic (FO) network, which is reliable, safe and has a high speed. It also contributes to promoting a new digital future for Dubai in vital areas. The FO ducts development in Dewa’s infrastructure is part of the InfraX project, one of Digital DEWA’s subsidiaries, the digital arm of Dewa. This enables VSaaS and the Virtual Desktop Interface, which is provided via the digital platform of Data Hub Integrated Solutions (MORO), also a subsidiary of Digital Dewa.

“We strive to make the future a reality witnessed by Dubai residents and to make it the smartest and happiest city in the world. This supports the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the Dubai 10X initiative, which aims to make Dubai 10 years ahead of other cities through disruptive and innovative technologies. We have come a long way in this area through Digital Dewa, which aims to redefine the concept of a utility and make Dewa the first digital utility worldwide with autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage with the expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital services,” added Al Tayer.

Dewa’s Fibre Optic (FO) network supports the InfraX Network Operations Centre, which Dewa implemented in collaboration with Huawei, to provide pioneering digital services, and to enhance smart services and Digital Dewa’s data-centre and cloud-computing value-added services.

The Fibre network also plays a key role in ensuring the continuity of innovation communication services with international standards in the UAE and expanding its use. This is through partnerships with DEWA across different government organisations and business sectors to lease out a part of DEWA’s dark fibre networks to provide communication services.

Dewa is committed and aligned to Dubai’s 8 Principles and 50-Year Charter supporting the UAE’s directions through the delivery of global leading services and innovative energy solutions enriching lives and ensuring the happiness of our stakeholders in a sustainable manner.

WAM