Dubai: Dewa records 300-fold increase in power capacity since 1970

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) 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, managing director and CEO of Dewa, said that the company 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 the sustainability of resources, and enhanced water security in the UAE and Dubai.

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, he said. The Solar Park will have a production capacity of 5,000MW by 2030.

Al Tayer added that 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.

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 per cent compared to 6-7 per cent in Europe and the US. The water network loss was 5.3 per cent compared to around 15 per cent in North America. Dewa increased fuel efficiency in production units up to 90 per cent, one of the best percentages worldwide. Dewa recorded the lowest Customer Minutes Lost (CML) in the world at 1.43 CML in 2021, compared to about 15 minutes in leading utilities in the EU.

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Dewa provides its services to Dubai residents, who make up to 3.5 million individuals and 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 per cent.

There were 960,032 water accounts by the end of 2021 compared to 666,006 accounts by the end of 2016, a 44 per cent increase. There was a total of 2,021,508 electricity and water accounts by the end of 2021.

• Dubai