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Dubai, UAE: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) provides a safe and reliable supply of energy and water to ensure comfortable conditions for all residents of Dubai around the clock. This is part of its commitment to prioritising and meeting the water and energy needs of the Emirate of Dubai and supporting Goal 6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, which ensures clean water and sanitation for all. This is accomplished through an advanced infrastructure that keeps pace with the increasing demand for energy in Dubai, which was estimated to increase by 6.3% in 2023, compared to 2022. By implementing leading projects and programmes, DEWA’s production capacity has reached 16,270 MW of electricity and 495 million imperial gallons (MIGD) per day of desalinated water.
DEWA’s results surpass major European and American utilities in several key performance indicators. In 2023, line losses from electricity transmission and distribution networks were reduced to 2% compared to around 6-7% in Europe and the USA. Water transmission and distribution network losses reached 4.6% compared to about 15% in North America. DEWA also recorded the world’s lowest electricity Customer Minutes Lost (CML) per year in the world with an average of 1.06 minutes in 2023, compared to around 15 minutes recorded by leading utility companies in the European Union.
DEWA is working to meet the increasing demand for electricity and water services by implementing pioneering projects:
Leading projects for energy production and storage
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site solar park in the world, with a planned production capacity of 5,000MW by 2030. The fourth phase of the solar park supports DEWA’s efforts to increase the share of renewable and clean energy and energy storage. DEWA is implementing other energy storage projects, including the 250MW pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta, with a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt hours; the Green Hydrogen project that produces and stores hydrogen using solar energy; and the Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Complex, one of the key pillars to provide Dubai with high-quality, efficient, and reliable electricity and water services.
Water reservoirs
The water reservoirs that DEWA is building help increase the water flow and raise the volume of the Emirate’s water reserve to meet the growing demand and improve the efficiency and reliability of water networks to support the sustainable development of Dubai. The storage capacity is currently 882 MIG. The water reservoir in the Lusaily area in Dubai has a storage capacity of 60 million imperial gallons (MIG), alongside the existing one, which stores 120 MIG of desalinated water. DEWA is working on three other reservoir projects in Nakhali, Hassyan and Hatta. With the completion of these projects, the storage capacity will increase to 1,152 MIG of desalinated water.
DEWA’s electricity and water services are supported by management systems and a transmission and distribution network that ensure the highest standards of reliability and availability, exceeding global utility benchmarks:
Water Smart Distribution Management System
DEWA’s Water Smart Distribution Management System plays a vital role in improving its field operations related to around-the-clock monitoring and remote controlling of the water distribution network in Dubai. This maintains DEWA’s excellence as it has the lowest percentages of water network losses worldwide. The Water Smart Distribution Management System increases the visibility and management of the water distribution network. It also improves the reliability of water supplies, largely contributing to improving water balance and updating the hydraulic stimulation data for the network every day.
Preventive maintenance systems
DEWA’s preventive programmes and systems enhance the leadership of the cable performance in the power distribution network in Dubai. DEWA uses preventive maintenance, Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) & AI to predict cable faults. DEWA also adopts the advanced Condition Assessed Reliability Enhanced (CARE) and Cable Lifecycle Ageing project, which DEWA developed internally, to enhance and extend the life span of distribution cables through an advanced system based on data processing.
DEWA has also launched 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.
Future vision and plans
By the end of 2030, DEWA plans to have a gross installed capacity of 20 GW and 730 MIGD of desalinated water. More than 27% of this 20 GW is expected to come from renewable capacity, exceeding the original plan of 25%. In addition, DEWA plans to add 240 MIGD of desalination capacity using reverse osmosis technology.
For more information, please visit DEWA’s website www.dewa.gov.ae
DEWA’s social media accounts:
https://www.facebook.com/dewaofficial
https://www.youtube.com/dewaofficial
https://twitter.com/dewaofficial
