DEWA reports record electricity and water savings
Image: DEWA
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has reported record low customer minutes lost and significant water savings in 2023.
In 2023 DEWA achieved 1.06 minutes per customer in 2023 – marginally shorter than the 1.19 minutes per customer in 2022. DEWA attributes this primarily to the ongoing smart grid implementation, with an investment of AED7 billion (US$1.9 billion) up to 2035.
Among the initiatives launched by DEWA in the smart grid programme is a FLISR (fault location, isolation and self restoration) system – the first of its kind in the MENA region to enhance the control, management and monitoring of the power network.
“DEWA has achieved the lowest electricity customer minutes lost in the world,” asserts HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO.
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“This is the accumulation of DEWA’s efforts in innovation and managing facilities and services through a smart and integrated smart grid.”
Smart ball technology
On the water front DEWA has reported saving 243 million gallons (1.1 billion litres) of water and AED9.66 million in 2023 with its ‘smart ball’ technology.
The smart ball is a small diameter sphere with an acoustic sensor that is inserted into the water network and travels freely at a rate of around 3km/hour driven by the water flow. Once extracted the data is analysed to pinpoint the exact locations of leaks or other anomalies.
Since its introduction in April 2021, DEWA reports having detected 81 leaks in Dubai’s water transmission network with the smart ball, with its ability to detect leaks that are missed with traditional techniques, such as small cracks in the pipelines.
Alongside the smart ball, which can typically inspect about 35km of pipeline in a day, DEWA has been implementing other smartening of its over 3,000km extent water infrastructure, including a SCADA system and smart devices.
“This is part of our efforts to achieve digital transformation using state-of-the-art operational technology, which includes real-time hydraulic modelling, a training simulation system and advanced reporting tools,” comments Al Tayer.
DEWA’s water network losses in 2022 were recorded at 4.5%, well below the averages elsewhere such as the 15% quoted for North America.
