Dubai: State-owned utility service provider, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has achieved a 300-fold increase in power capacity, reaching 13,417 MW in 2021 from 43 megawatts (MW) in 1970.
DEWA has also raised its water production capacity from zero to 490 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) as Dubai did not have any desalination stations and was dependent on groundwater wells.
Speaking about the utility service provider’s push for sustainability, Mr. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA remarked that the entity considers the environment in all stages of its work. Over the years, DEWA 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.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Mr. Al Tayer pointed out that DEWA’s total production capacity currently stands at 3,417MW, 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.
The Solar Park will eventually 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.
Mr. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer observed.
DEWA’s use of the latest Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and disruptive technologies to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity and water has resulted in it surpassing major European and American utilities in numerous indicators.
In 2021, Dubai’s electricity network losses was close to 3.3 percent compared to 6-7 percent in Europe and the US. The water network loss was 5.3 percent compared to around 15 percent in North America.
DEWA has also increased fuel efficiency in production units up to 90 percent, one of the best percentages worldwide. The service provider 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.
Every year, DEWA serves close to 3.5 million individuals, primarily Dubai residents and millions of visitors every year. DEWA had 1,061,476 electricity accounts by the end of 2021, compared to 752,505 accounts by the end of 2016, an increase of 41 percent.
There were 960,032 water accounts by the end of 2021 compared to 666,006 accounts by the end of 2016, a 44 percent increase. There was a total of 2,021,508 electricity and water accounts by the end of 2021.