Dubai Electricity And Water Authority Records World’s Lowest Electricity Customer Minutes Lost At Just 0.94 Minutes

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has set a new benchmark in electricity service reliability. In 2024, DEWA recorded the lowest Customer Minutes Lost (CML) globally, with just 0.94 minutes per customer. This achievement surpasses its previous record of 1.06 minutes in 2023 and is significantly lower than the average of around 15 minutes reported by top utility firms in the European Union.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, highlighted the organisation's commitment to innovation as a core strategy for managing Dubai's electricity and water infrastructure. He stated, "We are guided by the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the city with the world’s best quality of life. To achieve this, we continue to develop Dubai's electricity and water infrastructure based on innovation, which we adopt as a key approach to managing facilities through a smart and interconnected network. This enables us to deliver our services according to the highest standards of quality, availability, reliability, efficiency, and sustainability. This supports the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), which seeks to consolidate Dubai’s position among the top three global cities."

The Smart Grid initiative has been pivotal in achieving these results. With investments totalling AED 7 billion planned until 2035, this project enhances energy transmission efficiency while reducing losses. The Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System is a standout feature within this initiative. It operates continuously without human intervention to detect faults, isolate them, and restore service automatically.

Al Tayer noted that DEWA's efforts have reduced CML from 6.88 minutes in 2012 to just 0.94 minutes in 2024. This reduction underscores DEWA's leadership in adopting advanced technologies from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. These advancements bolster DEWA’s ability to meet increasing electricity and water demands in Dubai.

DEWA's innovative projects have earned it recognition at the Asian Power Awards 2024 held in Singapore. The authority received two awards: ‘Innovative Power Technology of the Year - UAE’ for its Actual Load Profiles Simulator (ALPS) for Distribution Network and ‘Smart Grid Project of the Year - UAE’ for its Distribution Automation Smart Grid projects.

The Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System is notable for being the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa region. It enhances grid automation by improving fault detection capabilities and restoring connections swiftly.

These achievements align with DEWA’s strategic goals underlined by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer’s leadership vision focused on resilience and agility amidst growing demand pressures.

With inputs from WAM