DEWA World Record 2025: Dubai’s Power Grid Loses Just 49 Seconds a Year
The DEWA world record 2025 is official. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has reported the lowest electricity Customer Minutes Lost (CML) globally, at just 49 seconds per customer for the entire year. This 13% improvement over 2024 places Dubai at number one worldwide for electricity reliability, directly affecting every home, hospital, data center, and business in the city.
DEWA World Record 2025: 49 Seconds CML Surpasses Every Grid on Earth
DEWA’s 2025 Customer Minutes Lost figure of 49 seconds indicates that the average Dubai electricity customer experienced less than one minute of power interruption throughout the entire year. The previous benchmark, set by DEWA in 2024, was approximately 56 seconds, already a world-leading number. The 2025 result further reduces this figure, confirming a consistent annual improvement in reliability rather than a one-time statistical occurrence.
Customer Minutes Lost is the electricity industry’s core measure of outage impact. It captures the average total duration of supply interruptions experienced by a single customer over a defined period, in this case, one full year. This metric is directly comparable to SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index), the international standard used by regulators and utilities worldwide to rank grid performance. A CML of 49 seconds places Dubai in a category of its own; most developed-world utilities report figures measured in minutes or tens of minutes, not seconds.
What Dubai’s #1 Electricity Ranking Means for Residents and Business
For residents, the impact is clear. Power outages in Dubai are now so brief and rare that they are more a statistical anomaly than a real inconvenience. For businesses, especially data centers, hospitals, hotels, logistics hubs, and financial services firms, the high reliability eliminates a significant operational risk that companies in other major cities must constantly anticipate and budget for. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority manages a network serving one of the world’s most energy-demanding urban areas, where air conditioning is essential year-round, and critical infrastructure such as Dubai International Airport, the Dubai Metro, and key port facilities depend on continuous, uninterrupted power supply.
| Year | Customer Minutes Lost (CML) | Global Ranking | Year-on-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | ~56 seconds (~0.94 minutes) | #1 Globally | Improvement from 1.06 minutes (prior year) |
| 2025 | 49 seconds | #1 Globally | ~13% improvement vs. 2024 |
- 2025 CML Figure: 49 seconds per customer per year — the lowest recorded globally
- Year-on-Year Improvement: Approximately 13% better than DEWA’s own 2024 world record
- Global Ranking: Dubai ranked #1 worldwide on electricity reliability by this metric
- Key Enablers: Distribution network automation, real-time SCADA monitoring, self-healing grid technology, redundant feeder design, and rapid fault restoration
- Announced By: Dubai Media Office, citing DEWA official communications
DEWA said the 2025 reliability result reflects the performance of Dubai’s power network over the full calendar year, with total outages averaging less than one minute per customer. DEWA attributed the record reliability to advanced grid infrastructure and operational efficiency, reinforcing Dubai’s commitment to maintaining an exceptionally reliable power supply.
