Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), announced that DEWA has achieved the lowest electricity Customer Minutes Lost (the total number of minutes called CML, during which customers experience a power outage) in the world in 2023.

DEWA recorded just 1.06 minutes per customer, breaking its record of 1.19 minutes per customer in 2022. This is compared to around 15 minutes recorded by leading utility companies in the European Union.

"Following the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, we continue to develop the energy and water infrastructure in Dubai. We take pride in DEWA’s contributions to the UAE and Dubai’s global accomplishments. DEWA has achieved the lowest electricity CML in the world, of just 1.06 minutes per customer yearly," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer.

"This is the accumulation of DEWA’s efforts in innovation and managing facilities and services through a smart and integrated smart grid. This utilises the latest disruptive technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, energy storage, Internet of Things (IoT), and others. This contributes to providing electricity and water services according to the highest standards of availability, reliability, efficiency, and sustainability. This also enhances DEWA’s agility, resilience, and readiness to keep pace with the increasing demand for electricity and water in Dubai to provide the best facilities for the best city in the world,” said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer highlighted that the Smart Grid that DEWA is implementing, with total investments of AED 7 billion, is one of the tools that contributed to this achievement. The smart grid provides advanced features that include automated decision-making capabilities and interoperability across the entire electricity and water network to ensure smooth, fast, and efficient operation.

Among the programmes launched by DEWA under the umbrella of the smart grid is an Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System (ASGR), the first of its kind in the MENA region, to increase the control, management, and monitoring of its power network.

The system works around the clock without any human intervention. It uses a smart, innovative, and central system that locates the fault in the power network, isolates it, and automatically restores the service. This improves grid automation, fault detection and retrieval of connections.

It also supports DEWA’s efforts to maintain power supply according to the highest standards of reliability, accountability, and efficiency.