Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) | MD & CEO meets Italian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has received a high-level Italian delegation led by HE Manlio Di Stefano, Italian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The delegation included HE Liborio Stellino, Ambassador of Italy to the UAE; Valentina Setta, Consul General of Italy in Dubai; and Gianpaolo Bruno, Trade Commissioner at the Italian Trade Agency. They all discussed ways to build closer ties in the energy and water sectors.

The meeting was also attended by DEWA senior officials including Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence; Dr Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources; Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Government Communications; and Abdulnasser Abbas, Senior Director of Treasury.

The meeting saw discussions on ways to enhance cooperation, and the contribution of Italian companies to water and energy projects in Dubai and the UAE. It also discussed aspects of strategic cooperation between DEWA and Italian water and energy companies, how to develop business relations, and benefit from each other’s experiences.

Al Tayer briefed the delegation on DEWA’s most important projects, initiatives, and programmes that contribute to achieving the vision and directives of the UAE’s wise leadership to anticipate, shape, and build the future, while supporting national strategies; including the UAE Centennial 2071, to secure a happy future and a better life for generations to come, and make the UAE the best country in the world.

Al Tayer affirmed DEWA’s commitment to achieving the objectives of the Eight Principles of Dubai and the 50-Year Charter launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, for a sustainable and unique future economic model of development that uses the latest technologies and adopts technological innovations in all sectors.

The MD & CEO pointed out that DEWA currently has an installed capacity of 10,927 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 470 million gallons of water per day and in another global achievement, the UAE, represented by DEWA, maintained its first place globally, for the second consecutive year, with scores of 100% in all Getting Electricity indicators in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report.

Al Tayer said that DEWA supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to provide 75% of Dubai's total power output from clean energy sources by 2050. To achieve this, DEWA launched several green programmes and initiatives, including the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, with a production capacity of 5,000MW by 2030 with investments totalling AED 50 billion. Upon completion, the solar park will reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually and provide thousands of jobs in clean energy and green economy.

Al Tayer highlighted the Shams Dubai initiative, which encourages household and building owners to produce their energy needs using solar photovoltaic panels installed on rooftops and connecting them to DEWA’s grid. The installed capacity of the solar panels reached about 70MW, with expectations to double the number in the future and cover all buildings in Dubai by 2030. Another key initiative is the Green Charger initiative, to establish the infrastructure and build electric vehicle charging stations across Dubai. DEWA has installed 200 Green Chargers across Dubai in cooperation with other organisations.

Al Tayer said that DEWA attaches great importance to research and development, which is a fundamental basis for innovation, and has launched programmes in four key areas including producing electricity using solar power, integration of smart grids, energy efficiency and water.

Al Tayer also presented DEWA’s project in Hatta to construct a 250-megawatt, pumped-storage hydroelectric power station there and its smart grid programme, especially important as it has a strategy to promote energy efficiency.

“We have achieved competitive results in global benchmarking, surpassing the private sector and major European and American utilities in efficiency and reliability. DEWA has raised the efficiency of its energy production by using the latest technologies and adopting technological innovations, surpassing European and American utilities by reducing losses from electricity transmission and distribution networks to 3.3% compared to 6–7% in the US and Europe, while water network losses were reduced to 6.6% compared to 15% in North America, which is one of best results in the world. DEWA also achieved the lowest customer minutes lost per year (CML) in the world of 2.39 CML compared to 15 minutes in Europe. DEWA received more than 190 prestigious local and international awards across various fields in the past three years,” said Al Tayer.

“DEWA’s efforts in supporting the Smart Dubai initiative to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world. DEWA also launched Digital DEWA, its digital arm and adopted a pioneering model for utilities that is based on innovation in renewable energy, energy storage, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital services,” Al Tayer added.

The Italian delegation expressed interest in participating in DEWA’s projects in clean and renewable energy and water, and praised DEWA’s efforts in driving sustainable development in Dubai, which is a leading global hub for sustainability and green economy.