Dubai: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has reduced its nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 60 per cent in 10 years and cut the equivalent of more than 40 million tonnes in carbon emissions.

Dewa’s fifth Sustainability Report 2017 also showed 28.87 per cent improvement in cumulative efficiency between 2006 and 2017, with a production capacity of 10,200 megawatts in 2017.

The report revealed that Dewa provided electricity to 796,764 customers and water to 705,376 customers in 2017.

Dewa also met 100 per cent of Dubai’s water needs and completed the installation of 489,729 smart water meters in the emirate in 2017.

As far as its operations go, Dewa reduced losses in power transmission and distribution networks to 3.3 per cent, an improvement of 30 per cent compared to 2007.

Dewa’s water network losses in 2017 were 7.06 per cent, which is one of the lowest in the world.

Nitrogen oxide, an indirect greenhouse gas, is produced during fossil fuel burning. Dewa managed to reduce its emissions by 63 per cent in 2017 compared to 2007.

Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa, said: “The report is a comprehensive and reliable reference of our achievements from the past year towards reaching the goals of the UAE Centennial 2071 and the UAE Vision 2021 that aim to transform the UAE into one of the best countries in the world. Dewa also plays a key role in achieving the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, to make Dubai a global centre for clean energy and green economy, and provide 75 per cent of Dubai’s clean energy by 2050. Dewa also supports the Demand Side Management Strategy that aims to reduce energy and water consumption by 30 per cent by 2030.”

The UAE, represented by Dewa, is ranked first globally in getting electricity, according to the World Bank Doing Business 2018, which measures the ease of doing business in 190 countries from around the world.

Dewa also achieved the lowest Customer Minutes Lost per year (CML) of 2.68 minutes compared to 15 minutes recorded by leading utilities in the European Union. This is an indicator of the reliability and availability of the electricity distribution network since lost minutes are due to power interruptions experienced by customers.