Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has broken its own world record for electricity reliability, reducing customer minutes lost to just 0.82 minutes — roughly 49 seconds — per year in 2025.
The achievement surpasses DEWA's previous world record of 0.94 minutes set in 2024, marking a 13% improvement. It also puts Dubai far ahead of leading EU utility companies, which average around 15 minutes of customer downtime annually.
MD and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer credited the milestone to DEWA's deep integration of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, across its strategies and operations.
Central to this progress is DEWA's Smart Grid programme, backed by total investments of AED 7 billion through 2035. The grid enhances energy transmission and distribution efficiency, reduces outages, cuts losses and improves electrical load management.
A standout component is the Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System — the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa. The system operates around the clock without human intervention, using centralised controls to automatically detect, isolate and resolve faults, accelerating power restoration across Dubai.
The progress over the past decade is striking. DEWA has cut customer minutes lost from 6.88 minutes per year in 2012 to 0.82 minutes in 2025 — an extraordinary reduction that reflects sustained infrastructure investment and operational innovation.
Al Tayer noted that the Smart Grid is a cornerstone of DEWA's broader strategy, aligned with the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, both of which aim to position Dubai among the world's top three cities.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
