Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) recently announced increasing its electricity production capacity up to 12,900 megawatts (MW) and 490 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of desalinated water.

Dewa's Jebel Ali Power and Desalination Complex is one of the key pillars to provide Dubai with high-quality, efficient and reliable electricity and water services. The Complex has been confirmed by Guinness World Records as the largest single-site natural gas power generation facility in the world at a capacity of 9,547 MW.

The complex comprises two main plants for power generation and water desalination. Plant -1 with a production capacity of 2,761 MW consists of stations D, E, and G. Plant-2 with a production capacity of 6,786 MW consists of stations K, L, and M.

"Dewa has outlined expansion plans for the energy and water infrastructure based on demand forecasts until 2030. Innovation is a key pillar in developing our work system and improving our services to the highest standards by increasing the use of disruptive technologies and the latest Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI); Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs); Blockchain; Energy Storage; Internet of Things (IoT), and others," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa.

100% Emiratisation in leadership positions

The complex's power generation and water desalination plants use world-class technologies, state-of-the-art smart solutions, and advanced technology systems, managed by Emiratis with the highest skills and capacity. The employees are the most important success factors for Dewa's Generation division.

All of the division's top management are Emiratis, whilst in managerial positions, they make 32% of the workforce. The Generation division supports Dewa's efforts in increasing the role of Emirati talent. Emirati engineers comprise around  42% of the total 74 engineers in the mechanical maintenance department.

Nasser Lootah, Executive Vice President of Generation at Dewa, said that Dewa's implementation of the latest innovative technologies has resulted in improving generation efficiency by 33.41% in 2020 compared to 2006. This resulted in considerable financial savings and reduced carbon emissions by 31%. This is equivalent to planting 327 million trees to offset the CO2 emissions. Nitrogen oxide emissions were reduced by 74% and sulphur dioxide by 99%. – TradeArabia News Service