Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), reported its second quarter 2022 financial results, recording quarterly revenue of $1.90 billion and net profit of $710 million. For the first half 2022, DEWA’s revenue is $3.28 billion and net profit is $900 million.

Robust financial performance

DEWA’s first half revenue increase of 15% to $3.28 billion was mainly driven by an increase in demand. Energy demand in Dubai during the first half of 2022 increased by 6.3% compared to the same period in 2021.

Demand for energy in the first half of 2022 reached 23.27 TWh compared to 21.9 TWh in the first half of 2021. Nearly 10% of this generation is from Solar. Similarly, water demand in the same period grew by 6.4%.

DEWA’s peak demand in the first half of 2022 was 9.4 GW, which represents a 7% increase over the same period of last year.

By the end of the second quarter, DEWA served 1,126,121 customers, representing a 5.12% increase from the same time last year.

DEWA’s majority owned subsidiary, EMPOWER, also demonstrated record growth in segmented revenue and profit.

In the first 6 months of the year EMPOWER’s revenue was $314.2 million and net profit was $117.63 million, representing a 16% and 11% increase respectively versus the same period in the last year.

DEWA CEO, H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said: “DEWA’s half year financial results demonstrate our commitment to sustainability focused smart growth, enhanced customer happiness, operational excellence and attractive capital returns for our shareholders.

“We continue to implement pioneering projects to diversify Dubai’s clean and renewable energy sources and achieve our wise leadership’s vision for a bright and sustainable future for generations to come.”

Select quarterly and half year highlights

In the first half of 2022, DEWA’s installed capacity increased by 700 megawatts (MW) to 14,117 MW.

This includes 600 MW from the Hassyan Power Complex, which runs on natural gas and 100 MW from the 5th phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park (“MBR Solar Park”), which runs on photovoltaic (PV) solar panels.

MBR Solar Park is the largest single-site solar park in the world, built on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, with planned capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030.

By June 2022, DEWA’s 250 MW pumped-storage hydroelectric power station, which is being constructed in Hatta, was 44% complete. It will have a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt-hours and a life span of up to 80 years.

This is the first power station of its kind in the GCC. In addition, DEWA achieved 85% completion of its 120 MIG Nakhali water reservoir, 84% completion of its 60 MIG Lusaily Reservoir, and 11% completion of its 120 MIG Hassyan Reservoir.

Further, DEWA also commissioned 287 (11kV) substations in Dubai in the first half of 2022. There are now 78 (33kV) substations in service and 42,093 Medium Voltage (11kV) substations in the company's transmission and distribution network.

The company also commissioned 1 (400kV) substation and 10 (132kV) substations, bringing the total to 26 (400kV) substations and 329 (132kV) substations. DEWA also completed laying 100 Km of 132 kV cable and 802 Km of medium voltage cable.

DEWA continues to improve its overall efficiency by adopting the latest smart technologies and innovative practices across all its services and operations.

DEWA Invests in AI & ML to Improve Efficiency, Reduce Carbon Emissions

In June 2022, DEWA launched an Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System (ASGR), the first of its kind in the MENA region, to increase the control, management, and monitoring of its power network.

The system works round the clock without any human intervention. It uses a smart, innovative, and central system that locates the fault in the power network, isolates it and automatically restores the service. This improves grid automation, fault detection and retrieval of connections.

In the second quarter of 2022 and as part of the Smart Living initiative, DEWA added a Self-Assessment tool for residential customers to easily understand their consumption patterns.

This is part of DEWA’s effort to make Dubai homes more sustainable and efficient. Since inception, the Smart Living Initiative service saved up to 8 billion gallons of water.

DEWA is the first utility worldwide to use nano satellites to monitor and improve the operations, maintenance and planning of its electricity and water networks.

In May 2022, DEWA signed an MoU with Eutelsat, the French global satellite operator, to provide technical support for DEWA’s Space-D programme and DEWA’s 3U nanosatellite DEWA-SAT1.

This will help develop nanosatellite Internet of Things (IoT) terminals and enhance connectivity between DEWA’s assets and its nanosatellite. In addition, DEWA pro-actively harnesses the use of drone technology, using advanced drones for asset inspection purposes to support Dubai’s growing infrastructure.

In April of 2022, DEWA launched the ‘Dubai EV Community Hub’ website for Dubai, aiming to increase electric vehicle (EV) adoption by centralising information regarding EV developments in Dubai.

Read More: Periodic Maintenance by DEWA Ensures Sustainable Power Supply in Dubai