HE Saeed Al Tayer meets high-level delegation headed by the Director General of the Department for Africa, the Middle East and Latin America at Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), welcomed a high-level delegation headed by Anna-Kaisa Heikkinen, Director General of the Department for Africa, the Middle East and Latin America at Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The visit aimed to strengthen bilateral relations, explore collaboration opportunities in sustainability, innovation and technology, and discuss areas of mutual interest, in line with DEWA’s commitment to advancing clean energy and water sectors in Dubai.

The Finnish delegation included representatives from prominent companies, research institutions and government organisations across various sectors, including renewable energy, smart solutions, logistics and advanced technologies.

Al Tayer commended Finland’s expertise in sustainable innovation and technology while highlighting DEWA’s initiatives in renewable energy, green hydrogen, digital transformation and smart grid technologies. He also underscored DEWA’s efforts to support the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050, aimed at positioning Dubai as a global leader in clean energy and the green economy.

During the meeting, Al Tayer shared details of DEWA’s key projects and initiatives, including the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world. He discussed DEWA’s investments in advanced energy storage systems within the solar park, such as the concentrated solar power (CSP) storage project, battery energy storage systems and the Green Hydrogen pilot project – the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to produce hydrogen using solar energy.

Al Tayer also outlined DEWA’s strategic plans for reverse-osmosis water desalination plants, which are more energy-efficient compared to traditional multi-stage flash technology. By 2030, DEWA aims to produce 100% of desalinated water through a clean energy mix.

Al Tayer also highlighted DEWA’s digital transformation initiatives such as the Digital DEWA Strategy, which aims to make DEWA the world's first digital utility. Through this initiative, DEWA intends to replace the operating model of utilities to become the world's first digital organisation with renewable energy systems that have autonomous control and storage, while increasing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital services.

Al Tayer noted that DEWA’s performance surpasses that of major utilities in Europe and the United States across key indicators. In 2023, electricity transmission and distribution losses were reduced to 2%, compared to approximately 6%-7% in Europe and the US. Water transmission and distribution network losses were brought down to 4.6%, compared to around 15% in North America. Furthermore, DEWA achieved the world’s lowest electricity Customer Minutes Lost (CML) per year, with an average of 1.06 minutes in 2023, compared to around 15 minutes for leading European utilities.

The Finnish delegation shared insights into Finland’s advanced solutions in clean energy, smart cities and sustainable technologies. Heikkinen expressed Finland’s interest in deepening ties with the UAE, emphasising the potential for collaboration between Finnish organisations and DEWA to drive innovation and achieve sustainability objectives.