The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) announced that it has launched the Middle East’s first-ever Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System (ASGR) to increase the control, management, and monitoring of its power network.
The system, which works 24x7 without human intervention, uses an innovative central system that locates the fault in the power network, isolates it, and automatically restores the service, the DFM-listed utility said in a press statement.
It said ASGR improves grid automation, fault detection and retrieval of connections.
Dewa’s MD and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said the utility is investing up to 7 billion UAE dirhams between 2021 and 2035 as part of its Smart Grid Strategy, adding that Dewa’s adoption of the latest technologies in power generation, transmission and distribution, has placed it among the best utilities worldwide.
“In 2021, Dewa achieved a new world record in electricity Customer Minutes Lost (CML) per year. Dubai recorded 1.43 minutes per customer, compared to around 15 minutes by leading utility companies in the European Union. This highlights Dewa’s ability to restore power during faults or unplanned outages. The percentage of losses in the electricity transmission and distribution networks in Dubai was 3.3 percent, compared to 6-7 percent in Europe and the US.”
In a previous statement, Dewa had announced that its High-Water Usage Alert to help customers detect leakages in water connections after the meter had saved up to 8 billion gallons of water and saved customers more than 500 million dirhams ($136 million) up to March 2022.
Hussain Lootah, Executive Vice President of Transmission Power added that the total value of Dewa’s planned investments in electricity transmission projects between 2021 and 2024 is 10 billion dirhams ($2.7 billion). This includes 2 billion dirhams ($544 million) for 400 kV transmission projects and 8 billion dirhams for 132 kV projects ($2.3 billion).
