Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), met with a high-level Shell delegation led by Fakher Bader, Shell’s Country Chair for Iraq and the UAE. 

The delegation included Geraldine Wessing, Chief Political Analyst – Strategy Insights & Scenarios, and Hessa Abdulla, MENA Media Lead.

Discussions centered on Shell’s new report, The 2025 Energy Security Scenarios: Energy and Artificial Intelligence, which outlines three potential pathways—Archipelagos, Horizon, and Surge—on how AI could reshape global energy systems. 

The report aims to help stakeholders anticipate risks, navigate challenges, and seize opportunities in a rapidly evolving landscape. The meeting also explored potential collaboration on circular and green economy initiatives.

Al Tayer presented DEWA’s progress on major clean energy projects, including the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park—the world’s largest single-site solar installation operating under the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. 

With a current capacity of 3,860 megawatts (MW), the solar park is expected to reach 7,260 MW by 2030, surpassing its original target of 5,000 MW.

The park’s sixth phase, which adds 1,800 MW using advanced bifacial photovoltaic technologies with single-axis tracking, will supply clean energy to around 540,000 homes and cut approximately 2.36 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

Al Tayer also highlighted DEWA’s upcoming headquarters, the Al Shera’a building, set to be the world’s tallest and largest net-positive energy government building. It is designed to achieve LEED Platinum and WELL Silver certifications and will incorporate technologies such as IoT, big data analytics, AI, and renewable energy systems to maximize efficiency.

DEWA’s strategic focus on AI was another key topic. Al Tayer noted the authority’s ambition to become the world’s first AI-native utility, embedding artificial intelligence across core operations. 

In 2024, DEWA led globally in 12 key performance indicators and achieved the world’s lowest electricity transmission and distribution losses at 2%, compared to 6–7% in Europe and the United States. 

Water network losses were also the lowest globally at 4.5%. DEWA further set a record for customer minutes lost (CML), averaging just 0.94 minutes per year, significantly below the EU average of 15 minutes.