Dubai Electricity & Water Authority | DEWA MD & CEO of DEWA receives Austria’s Minister of Finance

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) received an Austrian delegation headed by HE Dr. Hartwig Löger, Minister of Finance of Austria. The delegation included HE Dr. Andreas Liebmann, Ambassador of Austria to the UAE; Mr. Richard Bandera, Commercial Counsellor; Dr. Corrado Sommariva, MD of Generation Middle East and Main Group Director of ILF Consulting Engineers, Abu Dhabi; Hubert Geissberger, Head of Sales at Voith Group Division Hydro; Karl Schloegelbauer, Vice President of Business Development Large Hydro at Andritz Hydro; and Manfred Wetzel, Operations Director at Strabag Dubai. The two sides discussed mutual cooperation in water and energy.

The meeting was also attended by Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence; Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future; Abdullah Al Hajri, Executive Vice President of Billing Services, and Amal Koshak, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at DEWA.

Al Tayer presented DEWA’s key projects, initiatives and programmes. DEWA has adopted the triple-bottom-line approach towards sustainability of the economy, society, and the environment. This supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, announced by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to provide 75% of Dubai's total power output from clean energy by 2050.

Al Tayer highlighted Dubai’s unique experience in the development of the renewable and the alternative energy sector, as well as the rationalisation of natural resources, and finding alternative solutions to traditional energy for sustainable development in Dubai.  DEWA has launched a number of ambitious initiatives to make Dubai a smart, sustainable and integrated city that is sustainable in its resources and provides a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment to achieve green growth and enhance energy efficiency.

Al Tayer highlighted the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which has a planned capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030, at a total investment of AED 50 billion and will eventually save approximately 6.5 million tonnes per annum in carbon emissions.

Al Tayer also highlighted DEWA’s project in Hatta to construct a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in the mountains next to the Hatta dam, with a capacity of 250MW, as well the smart grids.

Al Tayer noted DEWA’s efforts in supporting the Smart Dubai initiative to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world. DEWA has also launched Digital DEWA, DEWA’s digital arm. DEWA has adopted a pioneering model of service organisations based on innovation in renewable energy, energy storage, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and digital services.

“DEWA has achieved very competitive results in its global benchmarking, surpassing the private sector and major European and American utilities in efficiency and reliability. It has been able to raise the efficiency of energy production, using the latest technologies and adopting technological innovations, by reducing losses from electricity transmission and distribution networks to 3.3% compared to 6-7% in the US and Europe. DEWA also achieved the lowest customer minutes lost per year (CML) in the world of 2.68 CML, compared to 15 minutes in Europe. The UAE, represented by DEWA, was ranked first globally for getting electricity as per the World Bank’s Doing Business 2018 report. DEWA is the first organisation outside Europe to receive the Global Excellence Award from the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). We are the first organisation to achieve this as a first time applicant. Through this pioneering achievement, DEWA is now in the Platinum category, which is the highest international rank in the Global Excellence Index,” said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer noted that DEWA managed to decrease water network losses from 42% in 1988 to 7.1% in 2017, compared to 15% in North America, which is one of the best results in the world. DEWA has adopted Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) to survey the water network and identify and remotely-manage potential leaks in the system. DEWA has also adopted modern technology to scan its transmission and distribution networks to avoid leaks becoming cracks.

The meeting discussed strengthening cooperation and enhancing the contribution of Austrian companies in the water and energy projects in Dubai and the UAE. The two sides also discussed the strategic cooperation between DEWA and Austrian companies in the water and energy sectors, building on the expertise of both sides.

The Austrian delegation expressed interest in participating in DEWA’s projects in the field of clean and renewable energy and water. The Austrian minister praised DEWA’s efforts in achieving sustainable development in Dubai, and reducing Dubai’s carbon footprint to create a better future for future generations.  He praised Dubai as having all the elements to reach the top positions globally and becoming a leading global hub for sustainability and green economy.