DEWA and BSI partner to develop electricity and water sector standard

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has teamed up with the British Standards Institute (BSI) to co-develop the Publicly Available Standard (PAS) risk management standard.

The new PAS will enlist best utility risk management practices for the electricity and water sector.

DEWA said that the new standard is an important pillar in advancing risk management standards and addressing any problems, constraints or gaps in the prevalent standards and practices across the globe.

Part of DEWA’s efforts to strengthen its global positioning, the move follows just over a year after the authority participated in an international workshop in London.

The workshop focused on harmonising the new standard by bringing together major utilities in America and Europe to gain consensus on the effectiveness of the specified standards.

DEWA managing director and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said: “We expect the new standard to be completed and applied amongst utilities globally by September 2019.

“This is the newest addition to DEWA’s track record of initiatives and achievements that aims to upgrade the services of the electricity and water sectors around the world; especially in the risk management field, which is constantly increasing due to massive technological developments and a rapid progression of smart transformation.’

“We recognise the importance of supplying water and electricity to more than 850,000 customers based upon the highest levels of availability, reliability and quality.”

The collaboration announcement follows a month after DEWA announced plans to set up 91 stations and substations over the next three years, with an investment of AED11.4bn ($3.1bn).