RIYADH: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has reported 12.08 billion dirhams ($3.3 billion) in first-half revenue, which is 12 percent up from the prior-year period, driven by increased energy demand after a record $6.1 billion initial public offering earlier this year.

With a market cap of nearly 127 billion dirhams, the state utility’s profit grew 33 percent on the year to 3.3 billion dirhams in the first half of 2022, according to a statement.

“Continued focus on project delivery, innovation, and accelerating our digital transformation has bolstered our results through the first six months of 2022,” said CEO Saeed Al-Tayer, commenting on the results.

The demand for energy during the six-month period hit 23.3 terawatt-hours, compared to 21.9 in the same period in 2021, of which solar contributed 10 percent.

Similarly, DEWA’s water demand in the same period rose by 6.4 percent, whereas its peak demand was up 7 percent to 9.4 gigawatts.

In an interview with Asharq, the firm’s CEO noted that DEWA will issue tenders for water production and seawater desalination to the private sector using clean energy during the coming period.

Al-Tayer confirmed that following Dubai’s success in the electricity privatization attempt, it will move towards privatizing the water sector as well. 

Investment of the private sector in the energy field in Dubai is estimated at over 40 billion dirhams, Asharq reported.

The CEO added that it is difficult to privatize the energy transmission sector in the emirate, as it is managed with high efficiency, with a percentage of losses amounting to only 3 percent compared to 7 percent previously.