DEWA’s full-year revenue jumps 7% on water, electricity demand

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Dubai utility firm DEWA has reported a 7 per cent increase in annual revenues to Dhs29.2bn ($7.95bn), driven by higher demand for energy, water and cooling services in the city.

The company said the system demand for power surged to 56.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2023, a 6.3 per cent increase from the 53.2 TWh a year earlier while water demand grew by 5.2 per cent to reach 144.1 billion imperial gallons.

Quarterly, the utility company said its net profit reached Dhs1.8bn ($490m) in Q4 2023 and its revenues rose 6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Dhs7.1bn.

“Our strategy, growth pillars and capital commitments are well positioned to deliver on our energy transition ambitions to achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100 per cent of the energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050 while supporting the strong demand for our exclusive portfolio of products and services in Dubai,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the managing director & CEO of DEWA.

DEWA expects to pay a minimum annual dividend of Dhs6.2bn in the first five years starting October 2022. The company’s semi-annual dividends are paid in April and October.

The Dubai-listed utility firm distributed a dividend of Dhs3.1bn for the first half of 2023 on October 26 and the dividend for H2 2023 is expected to be distributed in April 2024, subject to approval by the company’s shareholders.

Founded in 1992 following the merger of the Dubai Electricity Company with the Dubai Water Department, DEWA is the exclusive electricity and water provider to Dubai’s 3.5 million residents.

The company served 1.21 million customers in 2023, after adding 53,974 customer accounts in the year, a 4.66 per cent increase over the previous year.

DEWA’s growth strategy

DEWA spent more than Dhs8bn on capital projects in 2023. The company’s annual installed generation capacity was 15.7 gigawatts (GW), with 2.6 GW of this capacity coming from clean energy sources.

The Dubai utility firm’s 829-megawatt (MW) phase 4 Al Aweer station is 94.5 per cent complete, and the 250 MW Hatta hydro station is 82.5 per cent complete.

DEWA generated 6.2 TWh of clean power in 2023, a 32.7 per cent increase from the previous year. The clean power accounted for 11 per cent of the total power generated in 2023.

The company’s total installed generation capacity is expected to reach 20GW by 2030 of which 5.3 GW, representing around 27 per cent of the generation will be sourced from clean sources.

Furthermore, DEWA plans to add 240 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of desalination capacity, taking the firm’s total installed desalinated capacity to 735 MIGD by 2030.

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