Dubai sets new record with lowest electricity customer minutes lost

30/04/2026 05:52 AST

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that it has set a new world record for the lowest electricity customer minutes lost (CML), at just 0.82 minutes (about 49 seconds) per year.

With this significant achievement, Dewa has surpassed its own previous world record of 0.94 minutes in 2024, representing an improvement of around 13%, said the company in a statement.

The company utilises the latest technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, particularly artificial intelligence, which has been fully integrated into Dewa's strategies and operations.

The smart grid is a fundamental pillar of Dewa's strategy to deliver services according to the highest standards of availability, reliability and efficiency, said the statement.

This supports the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), which seek to consolidate Dubai's position among the top three global cities, it added.

"The Smart Grid, which Dewa is implementing with total investments of AED7 billion ( ) up to 2035, provides advanced features that enhance the efficiency of energy transmission and distribution, reduce outages, minimise losses, improve electrical load management and enhance the happiness of customers and all stakeholders," noted its MD & CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer.

One of the key programmes is the Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System, a first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa, he noted.

The system enables remote, round-the-clock control, management and monitoring without human intervention, through innovative centralised systems that automatically locate and isolate faults and restore service, accelerating power restoration and increasing reliability, explained Al Tayer.

Dewa reduced CML in Dubai from 6.88 minutes per year in 2012 to just 0.82 minutes in 2025, significantly lower than the average of 15 minutes recorded by leading utility companies in the European Union.

This underlines Dewa's global leadership in adopting innovation to deliver services according to the highest reliability standards, he added.

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