DERASAT Digital Platform Earns UAE Award At Asian Power Awards 2025 For Digital Innovation In Energy

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has secured the ‘Innovative Power Technology of the Year - UAE’ title at the Asian Power Awards 2025. Judges recognised DEWA’s in-house DERASAT digital platform, which supports power grid data analysis and digital operations. The award was handed over at a ceremony at the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

The DERASAT digital platform, whose name means "Studies" in Arabic, is developed by DEWA’s internal teams. It is used to analyse operational data from the electricity network and convert it into structured insights. These outputs support decisions on planning, system reliability and asset performance across DEWA’s medium voltage grid.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, said that DERASAT has delivered clear financial and productivity benefits. The system has achieved AED3.5 million in savings compared to outsourced automation options. It has also lowered annual operating costs by AED1.1 million and removed 95 percent of manual work.

According to DEWA, the DERASAT digital platform has automated 95% of monthly reporting tasks. It now issues peak load reports for more than 4,500 medium voltage network rings and almost 10,000 feeders. These reports are available by the second working day each month, which is eight days faster than the previous process.

The DERASAT digital platform replaces fragmented spreadsheets with one central reporting environment. More than 90 DEWA users can now access unified data in a single interface. The platform also saves 254 man-hours every month, while maintaining a consistent structure for operational reports and network performance information.

DERASAT includes 30-minute load profiling, automated ring analysis and spike detection tools. These capabilities provide analytical insights that DEWA states are not found in commercial systems. The UAE Ministry of Economy has granted intellectual property rights for the platform’s algorithms, underlining DEWA’s work in utility data intelligence and digital innovation.

"We are committed to providing a motivating environment that encourages employees to develop innovative solutions that enhance the efficiency and reliability of the energy system and achieve the highest standards of availability and performance, in line with DEWA’s approach to digital leadership and smart solutions across its operations. The DERASAT platform reflects our employees’ ability to develop advanced digital solutions with global standards, transforming operational data into accurate analytical tools that support decision-making and have a tangible impact on operational efficiency, cost reduction, and service sustainability," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

The Asian Power Awards 2025 recognition links directly to these achievements of the DERASAT digital platform. The project shows how internal development can strengthen grid reporting speed, accuracy and cost control. For energy sector stakeholders in the Middle East, the case demonstrates how digital tools can improve network management and long-term service reliability.

With inputs from WAM