Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, received Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Chairman of the Department of Energy and Member of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi, at DEWA’s headquarters in Dubai.

Al Marar was accompanied by Dr. Saif Saleh Al Sayari, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, ADWEA, and Mohammed bin Jarsh, MD of the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company, ADWEC.

Those attending the meeting from DEWA included Nasser Lootah, Executive Vice President of Generation, Hussain Lootah, Executive Vice President of Transmission Power, Rashid Bin Humaidan, Executive Vice President of Distribution Power, Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence, Marwan Bin Haider, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future, Yousef Jebril, Executive Vice President of Power, Water & Planning, Khawla Al Mehairi, Acting Executive Vice President of Strategy & Government Communications, Jassim Rajab, Financial Controller, and Yousef Badi, Chief Legal Advisor.

Al Tayer welcomed the delegation and talked about establishing closer ties in the field of energy and water, as well as improving efficiency and working as a team. This supports the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to promote the UAE's regional and global leadership, and enhance the productivity and quality of services provided to customers, he said.

Al Tayer reviewed DEWA’s programmes, plans, and projects, in electricity and water, which support the objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071, to secure a happy future and a better life for future generations, and raise UAE’s status as the best country in the world.

"We are currently working to establish an R&D centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, with a total investment of AED500 million up to 2020. The work of the centre revolves around four main areas of operation, which include the production of electricity from solar power, smart grid integration, energy efficiency, and water. DEWA is also building an innovation centre to develop the nation’s skills in energy, and promote competitiveness by using incubators to develop new renewable energy technologies.

"DEWA has achieved very competitive results in its global benchmarking, surpassing the private sector and major European and American utilities in efficiency and reliability. It has been able to raise the efficiency of energy production, using the latest technologies and adopting technological innovations, and also surpassed European and American utilities by reducing losses from electricity transmission and distribution networks to 3.3 percent compared to 6 to 7 percent in the United States and Europe.

"Water network losses were reduced to 8 percent, compared to 15 percent in North America, which is one of best results in the world. DEWA also achieved 3.28 customer minutes lost per year compared to 15 minutes in Europe. The UAE, represented by DEWA, has been ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa and fourth globally for the fourth consecutive year for getting electricity as per the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 report," Al Tayer added.

At the end of the visit, Al Tayer briefed the delegation on DEWA’s new head office building, Al-Shera’a, which will be the tallest, largest, and smartest government zero-energy building in the world.