Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has installed more than 2 million electricity and water smart meters in Dubai recently, a senior official at the authority has revealed.
The move is part of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s efforts to develop a state-of-the-art digital infrastructure according to the highest international standards.
Smart meters increase efficiency and reduce consumption, as well as empower customers to monitor their consumption anytime and anywhere.
DEWA has also started operating the Smart Meters Analysis and Diagnosis Centre, where smart meters are read and monitored remotely after every 15 minutes.
"We have an integrated strategy for smart grids with investments up to Dh 7 billion that will be completed in the medium, short, and long-term until year 2035," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director & CEO, DEWA.
"This strategy includes different programmes such as Advanced Metering Infrastructure for Water, Advanced Metering Infrastructure for Electricity, Asset Management, and Big Data, among others. DEWA has launched the ‘Smart Applications through Smart Meters and Grids’ initiative to support the Smart Dubai initiative to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the whole world."
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer pointed out that in addition to their role in smart transformation, operational efficiency and reducing water losses, smart meters provide many other benefits to customers and help them monitor, manage, and control their consumption proactively and digitally without even contacting DEWA. This contributes to reducing consumption and sustainability of resources.
“In line with the directives of the wise leadership, we work at DEWA to provide an advanced infrastructure for facility and services management through smart and connected systems that use 4th Industrial Revolution technologies including Artificial Intelligence; Blockchain; Internet of Things and others," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer.
Abdullah Obaidullah, Executive VP of Water and Civil at DEWA, said that DEWA’s state-of-the-art infrastructure for smart meters helped detect 503,161 water leakages; 16,103 defects; and 7,974 increase load cases in the past 3 years.
This saved customers a total of Dh 324 million. Abdullah Obaidullah noted that the High Water Usage Alert service, which is part of the Smart Living initiative, helps customers detect leakage in water connections after the meter.
This particular system sends instant notifications to the customer if there is an unusual increase in consumption to check the internal connections and repair any leaks. This reduces waste as well as incurred costs for customers.
Rashid Bin Humaidan, Executive VP of Distribution Power at DEWA, said that smart meters are the backbone of the smart grid. They are designed according to the highest technical standards.
The smart meter sends wireless signals to different receivers across Dubai. DEWA has a secure and automated infrastructure to manage meters data and embed them with DEWA’s billing system.
Automating meter readings helps customers receive instant information on their consumption patterns and effectively manage it to conserve consumption and protect natural resources.
Smart meters help customers benefit from the Smart Living initiative launched by DEWA. In 2021 the initiative received the Hamdan bin Mohammed Program for Government Services Flag 2020.