Dubai’s electricity consumption continues to rise rapidly each year, offsetting the environmental benefits of the emirate’s increasing solar power capacity. Renewables now account for 14% of installed capacity, and this figure will grow further in 2023 as more units are brought online at the Mohammed bin Rashid (MBR) solar park.

Mohammed al-Tayer, the CEO of Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) announced on 1 February that energy demand in the emirate grew by 5.5% last year to a record 53.18TWh (see chart 1). This marks the second consecutive year of strong demand growth, following 2021’s record 9.8% growth (MEES, 28 January 2022). Mr Tayer attributed the increase to strong economic growth and continued population growth. (CONTINUED - 737 WORDS)