Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) is rolling out three key initiatives as part of Dubai’s broader smart city initiative.

The utility has opened up the national grid for people to supply excess solar energy, it is rolling out smart meters to people’s homes and it is installing charging points for electric vehicles.

Speaking at MEED’s Smart Cities conference on 9 September in Dubai, Marco Jannsen, specialist, Smart Grid at Dewa, said the utility’s vision is to be sustainable and world-class. “The aspirations of cities and utilities go hand-in-hand, and a lot of smart city plans are supported by what a utility does,” he said. This is because electricity supply drives many of the plans for smart cities.

For the three major initiatives being pushed by Dewa, the biggest change is the plan to open up the national grid to feed-in tariffs, taking surplus energy from individuals who use solar in their home. 

The utility is also installing smart meters into homes and apartments throughout Dubai, with the first 200,000 in place by February. The meters will give people far greater insight to their energy usage in the home, and allow them to compare themselves against similar households.

By November, 16 electric vehicle charging points will be available at Dewa offices, which can charge up to 32 cars. However, to be a success, it also requires car manufactures to promote electric car usage in the emirate.