Dubai’s infrastructure, which is today thought to be the most reliable in the world, is what keeps the city alive and well. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) just set a new world record for how long electricity can stay on. In 2025, Dubai’s Customer Minutes Lost (CML) was roughly 0.82 minutes—or about 49 seconds—per year. Dubai is years ahead of other big cities in the world, as shown by how much better its utilities are working. We will look closely at how DEWA reached this goal and what it means for “The Next Dubai.”
Making a New Global Standard
HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, made the announcement. This is a 13% increase over the authority’s previous record of 0.94 minutes set in 2024. To put this in context, the best utility companies in the EU have power outages that last an average of 15 minutes per year. Dubai is at the top of the international rankings because it does more than 18 times better than the average.
This success didn’t happen overnight; it took over a decade of hard work and creativity. In 2012, Dubai’s CML was 6.88 minutes. DEWA has always pushed the limits of what is possible in the energy business by making smart investments and having a “zero-outage” philosophy.
The Smart Grid’s Power of AED 7 Billion
The Smart Grid project by DEWA is what makes this world record possible. The goal of this project is to bring all parts of the energy transmission and distribution network up to date by 2035, at a cost of AED 7 billion. A smart grid is more than just wires and transformers; it’s a living, breathing digital nervous system for the city.
The smart grid lets DEWA:
- Predictive Maintenance: Cut down on outages by predicting when things might go wrong before they do.
- Reduce Losses: Ensuring that homes and businesses get power in the most efficient way feasible.
- Optimise Load Management: Keeping track of the city’s electricity needs in real time, especially during the warmest summer months.
This investment directly supports the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), which aim to make Dubai one of the top three cities in the world for business and lifestyle.
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The AI and Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System
DEWA’s success depends on using the newest technologies from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dubai is the first place in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to use the Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System.
This system is revolutionary since it works fully on its own. It allows 24/7 remote monitoring and control using smart centralised platforms. When the AI sees a problem, it instantly isolates the affected area and reroutes power through the grid’s healthy parts. This happens in just a few seconds, and most of the time, people don’t even know their lights are flickering. By getting rid of the need for manual troubleshooting, DEWA has made it much faster to restore service.
AI’s Role in Customer Service
DEWA is committed to AI outside the physical grid. The authority recently announced that it had employed AI agents to speed up the reimbursement procedure from four days to just a few minutes. These smart algorithms are taking care of about 90% of refund requests up to AED 4,000.
This fits with the UAE government’s bigger ambition to utilise AI agents to do half of all government work. The goal of this move is to make people more productive, cut down on mistakes, and give locals quick answers to their problems.
The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy and the Future
Reliability is only one side of the story; sustainability is the other. DEWA’s global record is in line with the authority’s intensified efforts to reach the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 goals. By 2050, 100% of Dubai’s electricity will come from renewable sources.
The smart grid is a vital part of this plan. It makes it easy to add renewable energy sources, such as the solar power from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, to the main power network. Dubai can keep its power supply stable at a world-class level even while it moves to renewable energy.
How Important This Record Is for People and Businesses
This global record is a source of consolation for the people who live in “The Next Dubai.” In a city where temperatures can get very high, a consistent supply of power for air conditioning is not a luxury but a necessity.
Companies and investors can count on DEWA, which gives them a big edge over their competitors. Data centers, high-tech businesses, and global financial organisations all need a steady supply of electricity to work. Dubai is showing the world that it is the most contemporary and stable environment to do business by having only 49 seconds of downtime per year.
The Last Word: Making a Global Leader
In short, DEWA’s new world record of 0.82 minutes shows Dubai’s never-ending search for perfection. By combining Artificial Intelligence with a smart grid worth AED 7 billion, DEWA has come up with a vision for the future of global utilities.
As Dubai becomes a global hub for innovation and smart living, the reliability of our energy infrastructure remains the key to our success. The voyage from 6.88 minutes in 2012 to just 49 seconds now shows what can be done when technology and vision work together.
Stay tuned to “The Next Dubai“ for more exclusive news about AI, new technologies, and the smart initiatives that make Dubai the most forward-thinking city in the world.
