DEWA Sets World Record for Electricity Reliability as Customer Outages Fall to Just 49 Seconds a Yea

DEWA recorded an average of just 0.82 minutes of electricity interruption per customer annually in 2025 — equivalent to approximately 49 seconds. The figure improved on the 0.94 minutes recorded in 2024 and represents a major benchmark for the reliability of Dubai’s electricity network.

Dubai Outperforms Leading Global Utilities

According to DEWA, leading electricity utilities in the European Union record around 15 minutes of Customer Minutes Lost per year. Dubai’s 0.82-minute figure therefore places the emirate significantly ahead on this key measure of power-supply reliability.

Customer Minutes Lost measures the average duration of electricity interruptions experienced by customers and is widely used as an indicator of the reliability and resilience of power networks.

Electricity Network Losses Remain at 2%

DEWA also reported electricity transmission and distribution network losses of just 2% in 2025. The authority says this is substantially below the 6% to 7% levels seen in Europe and the United States.

The low level of network losses reflects improvements in planning, engineering, maintenance, automation and the use of advanced technologies across Dubai’s electricity infrastructure.

Smart Grid Technology Supports Reliability

DEWA has attributed its strong operational performance to continued investment in smart-grid infrastructure, digitalisation and artificial intelligence. Advanced monitoring and automation technologies allow the utility to identify faults quickly, improve network management and restore services efficiently.

These technologies are increasingly important as Dubai’s population, economy and demand for electricity continue to grow.

A Long-Term Improvement

DEWA’s reliability figures have improved substantially over the past decade. Customer Minutes Lost stood at 6.88 minutes per customer in 2012, before falling progressively to 1.43 minutes in 2021, 1.19 minutes in 2022, 1.06 minutes in 2023, 0.94 minutes in 2024 and 0.82 minutes in 2025.

Global Benchmark for Utility Performance

The latest results underline Dubai’s focus on maintaining highly reliable infrastructure while expanding electricity capacity to meet future demand. With annual outages averaging less than a minute per customer and electricity network losses at 2%, DEWA says its performance has established new global benchmarks for utility efficiency and reliability.

Key Figures

• Customer Minutes Lost in 2025: 0.82 minutes per customer (about 49 seconds)
• Customer Minutes Lost in 2024: 0.94 minutes per customer
• Leading EU utilities: approximately 15 minutes per customer annually
• Electricity transmission and distribution losses in Dubai: 2%
• Comparable electricity network losses in Europe and the United States: around 6%–7%