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DEWA and Saudi Aramco sign MoU on water desalination and purification

About the entity

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)
DEWA uses the latest technologies in water production, transmission, distribution, as well as control of water networks. This has contributed to several successes and achievements, making it one of the best utilities in the world.
  • DEWA and Saudi Aramco sign MoU on water desalination and purification
  • The Memorandum of Understanding includes energy, R&D, smart grids and digital transformation.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Aramco to cooperate on energy, Research and Development (R&D), and smart grids, as well as exchange experiences and best practices, to achieve their strategic objectives. This supports DEWA’s strategy to explore opportunities and help shape the future of the energy sector in the region.

The MoU was signed by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, and Abdulkareem Al Ghamdi, Vice President of Power Systems at Saudi Aramco. The meeting was attended by officials from both organisations.

According to the MoU, DEWA and Saudi Aramco will cooperate in exploring joint strategic ventures in the energy sector, collaborate on R&D in power generation, innovation and testing centres, water desalination and purification, smart grids and network integration, process automation, robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, 3D printing and additive manufacturing, Big Data analysis, digital transformation, and technological development. They will also cooperate on the Energy Service Company (ESCO) business model to enhance energy efficiency and building retrofits, as well as training and capacity building. DEWA and Aramco will also work together on sustainability, environmental protection, carbon abatement and climate change adaptation management.

“We work to implement the directives of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Our strategies are aligned with the UAE Centennial 2071, the UAE vision 2021, and the Dubai Plan 2021 to ensure a happy and sustainable future and take the UAE to the top positions in all areas.  This MoU supports the vision of the wise leadership in both the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and contributes to achieving integration across all vital sectors through joint efforts to support national and regional goals and common interests, anticipate the future and adopt innovation to enhance sustainability of development,” said Al Tayer.

“The collaboration with Saudi Aramco supports regional efforts to enhance the energy, water, smart transformation, smart grids, energy efficiency and sustainability sectors. The MoU supports DEWA’s efforts to implement future development plans in the energy and water sectors and develop the infrastructure that keeps pace with the growing demand for electricity and water services to achieve the overall sustainable development. We are pleased to cooperate with our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to exchange experiences, expertise and best practices, in line with DEWA’s vision to become a leading sustainable innovative global corporation,” added Al Tayer.

Al Tayer noted that DEWA has achieved competitive results, surpassing major European and American utilities in efficiency and reliability. DEWA has reduced losses from electricity transmission and distribution networks to 3.3% compared to 6–7% in the US and Europe, while water network losses were reduced to 6.6% compared to 15% in North America, which is one of best results in the world. DEWA also achieved the lowest customer minutes lost per year (CML) in the world of 2.39 CML compared to 15 minutes in Europe. The UAE, represented by DEWA, maintained its first place globally, for the second consecutive year in all Getting Electricity indicators in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report.

“We look forward for our partnership with DEWA as it is an important step to achieve our shared objectives and goals that aim at identifying new opportunities within our business for deployment of new energy, smart grid and digital applications. Through this partnership, we’re pursuing an exchange of experiences and best practices that will help both parties to leverage technology solutions and accelerate business growth and drive innovation in the energy sector”

“This MOU supports our vision to lead the digital transformation in the energy industry by applying effective technologies to enable operational efficiencies. The collaboration with DEWA will compliment our ongoing energy and technology initiatives”, said Abdulkareem.  

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