A senior delegation from Saudi Aramco has visited Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) to explore opportunities for potential co-operation in key development projects, primarily in the power and water sector.

According to the Dubai Government-owned utilities provider, the Aramco delegation has studied Dewa’s operational methods and practices, including benchmarking and key performance indicators, for potential implementation at Aramco’s ambitious projects such as the Energy Industrial City.

The Aramco team reportedly expressed its desire to co-operate with Dewa, and ‘benefit from its expertise in the fields of generation, transmission, and distribution’ for the Energy Industrial City project, which will be developed over 50 square kilometres between Dammam and Asha in the kingdom’s Eastern Province

Aramco expects the first phase of the project to be operational by 2021.

During the meeting, Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer, the managing director and chief executive of Dewa, highlighted the importance of continued cooperation between the two organisations in the electricity and water sectors.

The collaboration feasibility talks between Aramco and Dewa comes at a time of, and is possibly induced by, peaking Saudi/UAE geopolitical and socio-economic relations.