The Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) is investing AED7bn to implement a smart electricity grid to ensure seamless, round-the-clock integrated services.

This should bring features such as automated decision-making and interoperability across the electricity and water network using technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT to achieve efficient, reliable and sustainable operations.

The AED7bn will be spent up to 2035 as Dewa plans to surpass prominent European and American companies in efficiency and reliability. In 2023, line losses in electricity transmission and distribution networks were reduced to 2%, compared with 6 to 7% in Europe and the USA. Water network losses reached 4.6%, significantly lower than the approximately 15% recorded in North America.

“Dewa also achieved a world record in electricity customer minutes lost per year, with Dubai recording 1.06 minutes per customer, compared to around 15 minutes by leading utility companies in the European Union,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, CEO of Dewa.

In 2014, Dewa developed its first smart grid strategy. In 2021, it launched an updated strategy extending to 2035, transitioning smart grid programmes into six key themes. These themes enhance smart enablers and offer flexibility to adapt to emerging opportunities and requirements. They encompass 19 smart grid enablers.

Among the smart grid programmes is an automatic smart grid restoration system, the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa. This enhances the control, management and monitoring of Dewa’s power network. Operating around the clock without human intervention, it uses central systems to locate faults, isolate them and automatically restore services. This improves grid automation, fault detection and service restoration.

In 2022, Dewa (www.dewa.gov.ae) launched a big data and analytics platform to integrate smart grid applications and operational technologies. This enables the processing of large amounts of data and provides fact-based analytics and forecasting for current and future projects. The platform contributes to improving the operations and management of assets and smart meters.

The high-water usage alert service supported by the smart grid detects any leaks in water connections after the meter. The smart meter system sends instant notifications to customers if it detects any unusual increase in consumption, so they can quickly repair the internal connections and plug any leaks with the help of a specialised technician.

Since its launch in 2019 and until the end of 2023, the service has succeeded in detecting more than 1.8 million water leaks after the meter, 36,000 defects and 13,400 cases of increased load.

• Dewa’s R&D centre has developed a smart application to automate the selection and dispatch of field crews to perform alarm management and troubleshooting on site. It is based on an IoT platform that enhances fault response efficiency and reduces response times by automating the crew selection process and dispatching the nearest available team to the location, ensuring the system is restored as quickly as possible.

Moreover, it includes real-time report generation, featuring tabular summaries with detailed records of the dispatched crew, fault specifics and the restoration steps undertaken.

“Dewa’s R&D centre is an incubator of innovation and a leading scientific platform, with prominent contributions that enrich the scientific and research community both locally and globally,” said Al Tayer. “The centre provides its staff with the latest global technologies and world-class laboratories and facilities, ensuring the ideal environment for developing innovations for Dewa’s areas of work.”