Dubai, UAE, 16 January 2025: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) concluded its participation in the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2025 hosted by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar). A number of DEWA’s female staff participated in seminars and panel discussions on DEWA’s experience in empowering women and youth in sustainability. They also highlighted DEWA’s key clean and renewable energy projects.
HE Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, visited DEWA’s stand at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) 2025, part of ADSW. DEWA’s stand also received a high-level Swiss delegation headed by HE Arthur Mattli, Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to the UAE, as well as a large number of VIPs, officials, delegations and summit participants. They commended DEWA’s projects, especially in the renewable and clean energy sector.
Youth 4 Sustainability (Y4S)
Aysha AlRemeithi, Deputy Manager – Smart Grid PMO and DEWA Youth Council President, participated in several panel discussions organised by Masdar within the Youth 4 Sustainability (Y4S) Hub, which seeks to empower the next generation of sustainability leaders under the theme of ‘Generation Now – Building the Future’. In a session entitled ‘Policy as a Catalyst: Building an Inclusive Future-Ready Workforce’, Alremeithi underlined the need to focus on strategies that empower the youth and provide them with the opportunities and potential to advance their professional, practical and leadership skills in the renewable energy and sustainability sector, thereby enhancing their ability to adapt to accelerated global changes in this sector. Alremeithi highlighted DEWA’s pioneering experience in supporting and empowering the youth and encouraging them to unleash their creativity, effectively advance sustainable development and enhance DEWA’s progress in the renewable and clean energy sector, consolidating Dubai’s competitiveness and its pioneering sustainability position worldwide.
Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER)
Athbeh Al Shehhi, Senior Engineer – Climate Change and Sustainability at DEWA, also participated in a panel discussion entitled ‘Accessibility: Empowering Emerging Economies’ within the Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER) platform hosted by Masdar. WiSER promotes women’s contribution to building a sustainable future, and inspires and motivates them to innovate, in addition to providing them with a platform to voice their opinions on sustainability issues. Al Shehhi highlighted DEWA’s circular economy strategy and its innovative practices and strategies adopted to embed the concept of sustainability in its various operations and areas of work, and the positive and pioneering results it achieved in environmental and social governance.
Pioneering projects supporting sustainable development
During its participation in WFES exhibition, DEWA highlighted its key projects and the progress it has made in various fields of innovation, research and development and smart technologies, as well as its pioneering efforts to establish the foundations of a green future and support sustainable development. Projects showcased at DEWA’s stand at WFES included:
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, implemented by DEWA, is the largest single-site solar park in the world using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. It will have a production capacity of more than 5,000 MW by 2030, with a total investment of AED 50 billion. The current total capacity of the solar energy projects commissioned at the solar park is 2,860 MW. The solar park contributes to achieving the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative, the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of Dubai’s energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.
R&D Centre
DEWA’s Research and Development (R&D) Centre, located at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, reinforces Dubai’s position as a global hub for research in solar power, smart grids, energy efficiency and capacity building. The centre has published 263 Scopus-indexed scientific and research papers in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals and international scientific conferences. Additionally, the R&D Centre has filed 43 patent applications to protect its intellectual property.
Sustainability and Innovation Centre
DEWA’s Sustainability and Innovation Centre enhances Dubai’s leadership as a global hub for clean energy and sustainable technology through various scientific and professional training programmes and interactive competitions, in collaboration with strategic partners. The centre offers visitors an immersive experience, showcasing the latest innovations in sustainability and clean energy technologies. Through metaverse technology, the centre provides a virtual tour of the solar park.
Space-D
DEWA’s space programme, Space-D, supports the development, maintenance, and planning of Dubai’s electricity and water networks, enhancing the efficiency of DEWA’s generation, transmission, and distribution divisions. As part of this initiative, DEWA launched two nanosatellites – DEWA-SAT 1 in January 2022 and DEWA-SAT 2 in April 2023, making it the first utility globally to use nanosatellites to enhance operational performance.
EV Green Charger
Launched in 2014, the EV Green Charger initiative supports Dubai’s ambition to be the smartest and happiest city in the world while promoting green mobility. The number of green charging stations across Dubai built by DEWA and its partners now exceeds 700.
Smart Grid
The stand also highlights the features of DEWA’s smart grid, which enhances energy transmission and distribution efficiency, reduces loss, and improves electric load management. The seamless and efficient operation of the smart grid has enabled DEWA to achieve competitive results that surpass those of prominent global utilities in terms of efficiency and reliability. In recognition of these efforts, DEWA recently received the ‘Smart Grid Project of the Year – UAE’ award for its Distribution Automation Smart Grid projects at the Asian Power Awards 2024.
