HH Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum & Minister of Energy review DEWA’s smart initiatives at GITEX 2014

Mobilk - HH Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of Dubai International Marine Club, visited Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA’s) stand, which is part of Dubai Smart Government’s stand at GITEX Technology Week from 12-16 October at Dubai World Trade Centre. His Highness was briefed about DEWA’s latest smart initiatives and services.

Staff briefed Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on DEWA’s latest achievements in smart government, information technology, and the smart services it has designed and implemented to achieve the welfare and satisfaction of its customers. These services enable customers to complete their transactions instantly, anytime, anywhere. His Highness was briefed about the Ash’ir service which DEWA has launched as part of its corporate social responsibility towards all segments of society, including people with disabilities. DEWA is the first government organisation in the UAE to launch such a service, which is a new communication channel dedicated to the speech- and hearing-impaired to communicate directly with DEWA’s call centre staff.

HE Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy, also visited DEWA’s stand. He praised DEWA’s three smart initiatives and emphasised the importance of improving the reliability of renewable energy and enhancing its use because of its vital role in increasing energy efficiency and supporting sustainable development. 

Al Mazrouei commended DEWA’s sustainable solutions and achievements by expanding the use of solar power. He called upon building and house owners to adopt DEWA’s smart solutions to enhance the use of renewable energy and limit dependence on traditional energy sources.

DEWA’s stand at GITEX has attracted a large number of visitors. The three smart initiatives DEWA is presenting at GITEX received a lot of praise from local and international visitors and dignitaries, who emphasised Dubai’s leadership in smart services and advanced infrastructure.

DEWA’s three initiatives, connecting solar power to houses and buildings, smart applications through smart meters and grids, and the construction of the infrastructure and charging stations for electric vehicles, have set new criteria for sustainability, governance, and smart infrastructure. The initiatives will help make Dubai one of the smartest cities in the world.

“These promising initiatives support the Smart City initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world within three years. The high praise these initiatives received at GITEX, is a testament to DEWA’s excellence in its smart transformation and our successful contribution to the development of new international criteria that will make a difference in building smart cities,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA. 

“DEWA’s ongoing efforts enhance and support the economic, social, and environmental development of Dubai. We are doing this through a number of promising projects, and many quality services and ambitious initiatives to achieve the UAE Vision 2021, which aims to make the UAE one of the best countries in the world. With the countdown to hosting Expo 2020, we are ready to meet the needs of Dubai’s mega projects in preparation for this global event, according to the highest levels of availability, efficiency, and reliability,” added Al Tayer.

DEWA’s first smart initiative includes encouraging households and building owners to install photovoltaic solar panels to produce electricity. DEWA will connect it to the grid, encouraging the use of renewable energy and increasing its share in the energy mix.

The second initiative includes the provision of smart applications through smart meters and grids that will provide many benefits and advantages to DEWA’s customers. This will speed up service connection, improve response times, provide instant reconnection of electricity, and promote the rational use of energy. Smart meters provide detailed and accurate readings, which enable customers to follow-up on how much they use. This in turn helps to save the environment. Smart meters will help identify solutions related to energy efficiency as they automatically send information, keep historic data of customer’s consumption and processes, and enable comparisons to be made with average norms. The project will be implemented in phases. In the first phase, DEWA will install 200,000 state-of-the-art meters.

The third initiative includes establishing the infrastructure and charging stations for electric vehicles. DEWA supports the introduction of electric vehicles to decrease air pollution and protect the environment against the impact caused by the transport sector. DEWA will establish the infrastructure in collaboration with several stakeholders, including Dubai Municipality, Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), car manufacturers, airports, malls, petrol stations, hotels, and car parks. In the first stage, 100 charging stations will be installed in different locations in Dubai, such as shopping malls, airports, office and residential complexes, and petrol stations.

DEWA first used smart technologies in 2009. This resulted in launching many of its services through its smart app, enabling it to complete its smart transformation. DEWA’s services are available through its app, which supports iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows, and Windows Phone platforms. It also supports Samsung home entertainment systems, smart watches, and Etisalat’s eLife. DEWA’s services are also available on its web application (dewa.gov.ae).

DEWA has recently launched its smart app for Google Glass, which improves internal procedures by enabling technicians to detect any faults in stations and substations, and send notifications to DEWA’s Enterprise Resource Planning System from SAP. Notifications include details, such as location and images of the fault.