Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)’s power capacity has increased from 43 megawatts (MW) in 1970 to 13,417 MW in 2021, a 300-fold increase. Its water production capacity increased from zero to 490 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD). Originally, there were no desalination stations as Dubai only had groundwater wells.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, said that DEWA considers the environment in all stages of its work. Over the years, it has increased its clean and renewable energy use, protected groundwater to ensure sustainability of resources, and enhanced water security in the UAE and Dubai.

“We work according to the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to develop unique experiences that make Dubai a global model for clean energy, water and green economy. We innovate proactive solutions for the challenges of the next 50 years. This is in accordance with the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy sources by 2050.

We also work to achieve the UAE Centennial 2071 objectives. DEWA’s state-of-the-art infrastructure and its innovation and scientific planning helped it keep pace with Dubai’s growth and meet the growing demand for electricity and water, according to the highest standards of availability, reliability, efficiency, and sustainability,” said Al Tayer.

“DEWA’s total production capacity is now 13,417MW, including 1,527MW of renewable energy using photovoltaic solar panels from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. It will have a production capacity of 5,000MW by 2030.

The Hassyan Power Complex and the Jebel Ali Power Plant and Water Desalination Complex are key pillars for supplying Dubai with high-quality electricity and water services.

DEWA’s water production capacity is now 490 MIGD, including 63 million gallons using Reverse Osmosis.

We aim to desalinate all our water using a mix of clean energy, renewable energy, and waste heat by 2030,” added Al Tayer.

DEWA uses the latest Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and disruptive technologies to generate, transmit, and distribute, electricity and water.

Its results surpass major European and American utilities in several indicators. In 2021, the electricity network losses in the Emirate was around 3.3% compared to 6-7% in Europe and the US.

The water network loss was 5.3% compared to around 15% in North America. DEWA increased fuel efficiency in production units up to 90%, which is one of the best percentages worldwide.

DEWA recorded the lowest Customer Minutes Lost (CML) in the world of 1.43 CML in 2021, compared to about 15 minutes in leading utilities in the EU.

DEWA provides its services to Dubai residents, who make up to 3.5 million individuals, as well as millions of visitors every year.

The number of electricity accounts at DEWA was 1,061,476 accounts by the end of 2021, compared to 752,505 accounts by the end of 2016, an increase of 41%.

There were 960,032 water accounts was by the end of 2021 compared to 666,006 accounts by the end of 2016, a 44% increase.

There was a total of 2,021,508 electricity and water accounts by the end of 2021.

Moreover, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), on Sunday received Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Professor Schwab was briefed on DEWA’s best practices in digitisation and adopting the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, and extended an invitation to Al Tayer to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland from 22 to 26 May 2022.