Dubai's DEWA utility to launch IPO as renewables push moves ahead

Government-owned Dubai Electricity and Water Authority set out details on March 15 to publicly list its shares as the utility moves ahead with an expansion of its solar, hydrogen and hydropower from a base dominated by natural gas-fired power generation.

The electricity and water provider, also called DEWA, said it will offer 3.25 billion shares starting March 24, representing 6.5% of its share capital, becoming Dubai's first government agency to go public.

The shares are expected to start trading on the Dubai Financial Market in April. The funds will be used by the government in "other segments of the local economy," while DEWA will not get any proceeds, according to an offering document and media Q&A.

Dubai's clean energy strategy aims to provide 100% of Dubai's energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.

"Dubai's fast paced development has resulted in a rapid increase in the demand for electricity and water," DEWA CEO Saeed Mohammed al Tayer said in a statement.

"DEWA is ready to meet the increasing demand for electricity and water in the emirate, as the population is expected to grow from around 3.5 million people today to 5.8 million people by 2040."

DEWA currently has generation capacity of 13.4 GW of electricity as well as 490 million imperial gallons of desalinated water each day, with revenue climbing 2% annually in the past few years to Dirhams 23.8 billion ($6.48 billion) in 2021, according to the statement.

It is in the process of expanding the Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum solar park, from installed capacity of 1.5 GW to planned capacity of 5 GW by 2030 at an estimated investment of Dirhams 50 billion.

DEWA said it expects "clean energy" to make up 14% of its power sources by the end of 2022, from about 11.4% currently.

In addition to solar, DEWA is building a 250 MW pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in Hatta on the outskirts of Dubai, with a storage capacity of 1,500 MWh.

In February 2022, it announced its Hassyan power plant would be converted to operate only on natural gas, instead of coal. The emirate currently consumes about 1.5 Bcf/d of natural gas, much of which is imported from Qatar.

DEWA is also looking to increase the number of its electric vehicle charging stations around Dubai from over 320 in 2021 to more than 1,000 by 2025. In May 2021, the company also launched a green hydrogen pilot.

DEWA was created in 1992 as a result of the merger of the Dubai Electricity Co. and the Dubai Water Department, and now has about Dirhams 201 billion of assets.

It also owns 70% of Empower, the world's largest district cooling services provider and Mai Dubai, the bottled water retailer.