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Business Opportunities in Dubai – Electricity, Renewable Energy and Water

By David Morgan

Friday, 19 February 2010 15:37

A seminar highlighting potential new partnership opportunities with Dubai in the fields of electricity, renewable energy, water and wastewater was held in London at the end of last month.

The event brought together key figures from the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) and representatives from the British water and power industry to discuss opportunities for closer cooperation in this important sector where British expertise is world renowned.

British Water, the UK water industry trade association, organised the event in cooperation with UK Trade & Investment. It was sponsored by specialist law firm Pinsent Masons and the co-partners were Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and BEAMA.

The main message from the conference was that DEWA has a strong interest to work with UK companies in the water and wastewater sector.

Ahmad Mohammed Abdullah, PR Manager, DEWA in London, told delegates that DEWA had been formed on 1 January, 1992, by a decree issued by His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum to take over and merge the Dubai Electricity Company and the Dubai Water Department that had been previously operating quite independently. Both these organizations were established in 1959 as government supported bodies with the objective of making available to the people of Dubai an adequate and reliable supply of electricity and water.
Today, after more than four and a half decades, DEWA is an inspiring success story known for its efficiency and reliability in every facet of its operations. Constant planning and forecasting to meet the growing demands of the customer has always been DEWA's philosophy. Owing to this policy, the Authority has come a long way in serving the customers and thereby making its own contributions to the economic growth of Dubai.

DEWA now has a workforce of about 6000 employees and its expansion continues in as the company works to the highest industry standards in order to meet the ever growing demands for electricity and water.

Furthermore, the conference heard that DEWA are pioneers in the field of Water, Desalination, Network Distribution and other innovations.
The firm is making efforts towards the introduction of new technologies and new products in Dubai and the UAE as a whole, as well as other Gulf countries.
DEWA's procurement alone amounts to about $1 to $2 billion per annum, it was said.
In its quest to improve quality in the field of power and water, DEWA is constantly seeking global partners for its procurement needs.
Details of the steps in the procurement process for DEWA were explained; this occurs through invited Tenders, Global Tenders and through Local Purchases. International companies can participate in DEWA's tenders and derive benefit from the booming business opportunities UAE.

Specifically, DEWA is currently seeking cooperation in the following development fields:
§    Power Plants
§    Substations
§    Desalination and Reverse Osmosis Plants
§    Reservoirs & Pumping Stations
§    Power and Water – Transmission and Distribution Net Works
§    SCADA Systems and Intelligent Metering System
§    Consultancy services in Water & Power areas.
§    Other Cost Effective Energy, Water, Environmental and Green building Technologies.

Finally, the conference was also given a detailed outline of the huge range of items procured by DEWA.

Paul Taylor, Head, Middle East, UKTI, provided the conference with a UK perspective on the economic development and prospects in the UAE. He said that despite to recent global financial crisis, whose impact the region did not escape, trade is booming. British exports of goods to the region were up by 25% to £13 billion in 2008, while services exports were worth £8.5 billion. But competition is also increasing, he warned. He characterised the prospects in Dubai as “medium term gain”.

He stressed that Dubai remained a great place to do business – its infrastructure was 10 years ahead of anywhere else; it had an attractive liberal business environment; excellent logistics and communications; and an educated workforce.

DEWA was one of those companies that continued to be very successful.

Taylor explained the current UK priorities in the UAE as advanced engineering/R&D (including nuclear and biotechnology); education; low carbon (including renewable and civil nuclear energy); healthcare; infrastructure; and financial services.

UK firms were encouraged to get involved and could look to support from UKTI in their endeavours.

Ahmad Mohammed Abdullah concluded with these words: “DEWA greatly values the role played by the UK based public and private sectors. We believe the UK-Arab collaboration has a huge growth potential.

“As the Emirate of Dubai continues its growth, DEWA has to meet the growing demand for water and electricity services via bringing the latest technologies and introducing the best work styles that provides efficiency and reliability and contributes in protecting the environment.

“We do believe that the UK companies across various industries have to seize the great opportunities DEWA presents to them. At DEWA, we truly recognize the capabilities and enthusiasm of the UK companies and we firmly believe that huge work could be done which is mutually beneficial to both of us,” the DEWA official stated.

Global Arab Network

This article will appear in Arab-British Business, the bulletin of the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce.