HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), recently met with HE Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, Austria’s Federal Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism. The meeting also included HE Etienne Berchtold, the Ambassador of Austria to the UAE, and several DEWA executives.
The discussions centered on DEWA’s initiatives to promote global partnerships in sustainability, renewable energy, and climate action. This aligns with the UAE’s vision for transitioning to a green economy. Both parties discussed ways to enhance cooperation in accelerating the green energy transition and exchanging best practices in environmental sustainability. They emphasized the importance of technology and knowledge sharing for developing innovative solutions to global environmental challenges.
Al Tayer outlined Dubai’s strategic clean energy goals under the UAE Net Zero Strategy 2050, which aims for 100% clean energy by 2050. He highlighted DEWA’s role through projects like the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which will have a capacity of 7,260 megawatts by 2030. This project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by about eight million tonnes annually.
Al Tayer also mentioned DEWA’s leadership in various performance indicators globally. In 2024, DEWA achieved the lowest electricity transmission losses at 2%, below the global average of 6% to 7%. Water transmission losses were at a low rate of 4.5%. Additionally, DEWA set a record for customer minutes lost at 0.94 minutes per year compared to an EU average of 15 minutes.
He further discussed DEWA’s use of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to strengthen AI adoption across operations and services. This aims to ensure high standards in quality, efficiency, reliability, and sustainability in energy and water sectors.
Al Tayer also presented “Al Shera’a”, DEWA’s new headquarters designed as an energy-positive building with advanced technological features including IoT, Big Data analytics, AI, and renewable energy solutions.
Hattmannsdorfer expressed gratitude for the constructive exchange and highlighted potential future cooperation between Austria and the UAE in renewable energy projects. He emphasized turning shared strengths into joint ventures due to both countries’ leading roles internationally in this sector.
