Dubai’s electricity capacity reaches 12,900MW

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) said on Sunday that its installed capacity has reached 12,900 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 490 million imperial gallons of desalinated water per day (MIGD).

The utilities major added that in comparison with the 1990s, which was when Dubai Electricity Company merged with the Dubai Water Department to form DEWA, the installed capacity of electricity at the time was about 1,200 MW and that of water was 60 MIGD.

DEWA’s production capacity therefore has increased over 10 times for electricity and over 8 times for water. It is expected that the installed production capacity of electricity will further increase significantly next July to 13,200 megawatts, with the commissioning of the 300MW first project of the 900MW 5th phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

“Electricity infrastructure expansion plans are developed based on demand forecast in Dubai until 2030, considering the demographic and economic growth in the emirate. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy, Dubai continues to grow and develop; consolidating its position as an attractive environment for global investments,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of DEWA.

DEWA has also initiated several renewable energy projects to achieve Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 that seeks to ensure that 75 per cent of Dubai’s total power capacity is obtained from clean energy sources by 2050.

The major projects under the ambit of this initiative include the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park which is the largest single-site solar park in the world with a planned capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030. The Smart Grid is also a key component of DEWA’s strategy to develop an advanced infrastructure and includes programmes with investments of up to Dhs7bn that will be completed in the short, medium, and long-term until 2035.

DEWA has also achieved a new world record in reducing Customer Minutes Lost (CML) for electricity per year. It recorded 1.66 minutes in Dubai, compared to around 15 minutes recorded by leading electricity companies in the European Union. The UAE, represented by DEWA, has maintained its first global ranking, for the third consecutive year, with scores of 100 per cent in all Getting Electricity indicators in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report. The report measures the ease of doing business in 190 economies around the world.

“We work to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for facilities management and services through smart and integrated systems that use disruptive technologies and Fourth Industrial Revolution applications. These include AI, UAVs, blockchain, energy storage, and Internet of Things, among others,” added Al Tayer.

In March, the Jebel Ali Power Generation and Water Production Complex of DEWA was confirmed by Guinness World Records as the largest single-site natural gas power generation facility in the world.

The complex can generate 9,547 MW of electricity. The total assets of the power production and water desalination plants in the Jebel Ali complex are valued at over Dhs45bn.

Read: Dubai’s DEWA bags Guinness record for largest single-site natural gas power facility