Dubai has achieved a new global milestone in electricity reliability, after Dubai Electricity and Water Authority announced that it recorded the world’s lowest electricity interruption time in 2025.

According to DEWA, the average electricity interruption duration reached only 0.82 minutes per customer annually, equivalent to around 49 seconds. This marks a further improvement on the authority’s previous global record of 0.94 minutes per customer per year in 2024, representing an annual improvement of about 13%.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, said the achievement comes in line with the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to provide world-class electricity and water infrastructure.

Al Tayer noted that DEWA continues to adopt the latest technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, particularly artificial intelligence, which is being integrated across the authority’s strategies and operations. He added that the smart grid is a key pillar in DEWA’s efforts to deliver services with high levels of availability, reliability and efficiency.

The smart grid also supports Dubai’s wider development goals, including the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, which aims to strengthen the emirate’s position among the world’s top three economic cities.

DEWA is investing AED 7 billion in its smart grid project through 2035. The project is designed to improve the efficiency of electricity transmission and distribution, reduce interruptions, lower losses, enhance load management and improve the experience of customers and stakeholders.

One of the main systems supporting this progress is the Automatic Smart Grid Restoration System, the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa. The system allows remote monitoring, control and management of the network around the clock through advanced central systems. It can identify the location of a fault, isolate it and restore electricity automatically without human intervention.

This has helped speed up power restoration and improve the overall reliability of Dubai’s electricity network.

Over the past years, DEWA has made significant progress in reducing electricity interruption times. The average duration fell from 6.88 minutes per customer annually in 2012 to only 0.82 minutes in 2025. By comparison, the figure is around 15 minutes among leading electricity companies in the European Union.

The latest result reflects Dubai’s continued focus on innovation, smart infrastructure and reliable public services, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s leading cities in electricity network performance.