Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), welcomed Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, the Federal Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism of Austria, and Etienne Berchtold, the Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the UAE.

The meeting was attended by Waleed bin Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence at DEWA; Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources; and Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future at DEWA.

The discussions focused on DEWA's efforts to foster global partnerships in sustainability, renewable energy and climate action, in line with the UAE's vision to spearhead the transition to a green economy.

Talks also covered measures to strengthen co-operation to accelerate the green energy transition, address climate challenges and exchange best practice in environmental sustainability. Both sides emphasised the crucial role of technology and knowledge sharing in advancing innovative solutions to global environmental issues.

Al Tayer highlighted Dubai's strategic clean energy objectives, aligned with the UAE Net Zero Strategy 2050, as well as the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050, which aim to meet 100 percent of the emirate’s energy needs from clean sources by 2050.

He also underlined DEWA’s pivotal role in realising these objectives through flagship projects such as the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world. The park will have a planned production capacity of 7,260 megawatts (MW) by 2030, harnessing both photovoltaic and concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies. This will contribute to a reduction of approximately eight million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

Al Tayer also emphasised DEWA’s global leadership, with the corporation taking top position globally in 12 key performance indicators in its areas of work, according to a study conducted by specialised international consultants. In 2024, DEWA recorded the world’s lowest electricity transmission and distribution network losses at 2 percent, well below the global average of 6 to 7 percent. Water transmission and distribution losses also stood at the lowest global rate, at 4.5 percent. Additionally, DEWA set a world record for the lowest customer minutes lost (CML), achieving 0.94 minutes per year, compared to an average of 15 minutes in the European Union.

Al Tayer discussed DEWA’s deployment of cutting-edge Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to reinforce the UAE and Dubai’s global leadership in adopting artificial intelligence (AI). By integrating AI across all operations and services, DEWA aims to drive sustainable growth in the energy and water sectors, ensuring the delivery services that meet the highest standards of quality, efficiency, reliability and sustainability.

Al Tayer also highlighted “Al Shera’a”, DEWA’s new headquarters – a sustainable architectural icon set to become the tallest, largest and smartest energy-positive government building in the world. The building is designed to achieve a platinum rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system and a gold rating under the WELL Building Standard. It incorporates an advanced technological ecosystem that includes the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data analytics and AI, alongside state-of-the-art renewable energy solutions to maximise efficiency.

Hattmannsdorfer thanked Al Tayer for the very constructive exchange and emphasised the strong potential for future co-operation between Austria and the UAE, particularly in the field of renewable energy. With both countries being international frontrunners in this area, Hattmannsdorfer underlined the importance of turning this shared strength into joint projects.

He highlighted the great importance of the UAE as key strategic partner for Austria, especially in the energy sector, where concrete co-operation will be implemented.