United Arab Emirates: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has won the ‘Innovative Power Technology of the Year — UAE’ award at the Asian Power Awards 2025, one of the most prestigious regional honours in the energy sector.

Dewa received the award in recognition of its in-house developed DERASAT (Arabic for Studies) digital platform, marking a significant achievement in digital innovation and power grid data analysis. The award was presented at a ceremony held at the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“We are committed to providing a motivating environment that encourages employees to develop innovative solutions that enhance the efficiency and reliability of the energy system and achieve the highest standards of availability and performance, in line with DEWA’s approach to digital leadership and smart solutions across its operations. The DERASAT platform reflects our employees’ ability to develop advanced digital solutions with global standards, transforming operational data into accurate analytical tools that support decision-making and have a tangible impact on operational efficiency, cost reduction, and service sustainability,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa.

Al Tayer highlighted that the DERASAT platform has automated 95 per cent of the monthly reporting process, delivering peak load reports for over 4,500 medium voltage network rings and nearly 10,000 feeders by the second working day of each month, eight days faster than the previous process. This represents a qualitative leap in both the speed and accuracy of operational report preparation.

Al Tayer stated that DERASAT has achieved Dhs3.5 million in savings compared to outsourced automation, reduced annual operating costs by Dhs1.1 million, and eliminated 95 per cent of manual work, saving 254 man-hours per month. The platform replaces fragmented spreadsheets with centralised reporting, improving data accessibility for more than 90 users across Dewa.

Featuring advanced capabilities such as 30-minute load profiling, automated ring analysis, and spike detection, DERASAT delivers analytical insights not available in commercial systems.

Its proprietary algorithms have been granted intellectual property rights by the UAE Ministry of Economy, reinforcing Dewa’s leadership in digital innovation and utility data intelligence.

Meanwhile Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has won the ‘SEAL Business Sustainability Award’ 2025 in the category of ‘Pioneering Sustainability Services’, for its Sustainability and Innovation Centre.

The award recognises organisations for their sustainability and environmental achievements, as well as their leadership in implementing sustainable practices. It acknowledges the centre’s influential global role in promoting efforts to accelerate the energy transition and achieve net zero.

Furthermore, the award highlights the centre’s contributions to raising sustainability awareness within society and empowering the next generation of sustainability leaders.

“As a global incubator for renewable energy innovation, the Sustainability and Innovation Centre supports our efforts to make Dubai a global hub of green economy and sustainable development, achieving the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050.

The centre empowers professionals and specialists, enhances their skills and knowledge, and strengthens their leadership capabilities, while also focusing on developing Emirati talent to actively contribute to shaping a sustainable future,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa.

Waleed Bin Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence at Dewa, said, “To date, the centre has launched nine professional training courses, with more than 220 participants graduating with accredited certificates.

The centre offers visitors the opportunity to explore cutting-edge innovations in clean and renewable energy, while engaging in pioneering interactive experiences.”

The organisers of the award praised the centre’s eco-friendly building design, highlighting its unique educational environment as it organises programmes and hosts activities throughout the year. These events include holding the first Middle East and North Africa Solar Conference, the CleanTech Innovators exhibition, the CleanTech Hackathon, the CleanTech Youth Programme, in addition to professional certification programmes that the centre organises in collaboration with major local and international academic organisations and start-ups.

Meanwhile in March 2025 Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) received the ‘Most Innovative Digital Transformation’ award provided by the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs. This is in recognition of Dewa’s outstanding achievements in innovation and digital transformation.

WAM