Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s latest programme has now committed more than AED10 billion to electricity transmission network projects, equivalent to approximately US$2.7 billion at recent exchange rates. The investment underscores long-term growth in Dubai’s energy infrastructure and the drive to integrate large-scale renewables into the grid.
Transmission build-out accelerates
DEWA‘s Managing Director and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer has framed the current expansion phase as central to meeting economic and social objectives under Dubai’s D33 agenda. As demand grows across new residential, commercial and industrial districts, the authority is pushing high-voltage capacity deeper into the city’s fast-developing areas.
In the first half of 2026, DEWA commissioned eight new main 132kV transmission substations, adding a combined conversion capacity of 1,200MVA. These projects included 20km of 132kV transmission cables, with investments totaling about AED970 million. They targeted emerging communities such as Madinat Hind 4, Al Khairan First, Al Layan First, Nad Al Sheba First, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Gardens, Al Barsha South Fourth, Me’aisem Second and Al Manara. This pattern shows a deliberate push to match grid capacity with urban expansion in outer Dubai.
At the utility scale, DEWA also brought online a 400/132kV transmission substation at Saih Al Dahal within the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, with a total conversion capacity of 2,000MVA and an investment of AED630 million, including associated 400kV overhead transmission lines. The project strengthens the park’s connection to the main grid, improves evacuation of solar output and supports Dubai’s strategy to raise the share of clean energy in the power mix. For investors, this is a key link between conventional grid assets and renewables, rather than a stand-alone solar build.
By the end of the first half of 2026, DEWA operated 402 main transmission substations, including 28 at the 400kV level and 374 at the 132kV level. This transmission backbone underpins both system reliability and the emirate’s wider growth story, with capacity now spread across established and new districts.
Pipeline points to sustained capex
The current build-out is not a one-off cycle. DEWA is already constructing 65 new main 132kV substations and one main 400kV substation. Over the next three years, it plans to issue tenders for more than 30 additional main 132kV substations, extend 340km of underground transmission cables and construct two additional main 400kV substations. This pipeline indicates sustained capital expenditure and ongoing opportunities for engineering, equipment and services providers linked to Gulf infrastructure.
During the first six months of 2026, the utility awarded 21 contracts for new 132kV substations and about 64km of underground transmission cables worth roughly AED3 billion across multiple districts including Al Barsha South, Jebel Ali First, Warsan and Zabeel, among others. These awards point to a broad-based programme rather than a single megaproject concentrated in one part of the city.
For institutional investors, the DEWA grid expansion aligns with several themes. First, it reinforces Dubai’s position as a long-term infrastructure growth market, with regulated transmission assets at the core of its energy system. Second, it anchors the emirate’s renewables push in tangible grid upgrades around the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, reducing integration risk. Third, it supports Dubai’s ambition to attract energy-intensive industries and data-led services, which depend on reliable power.
As DEWA moves from commissioning to further tenders and execution, investors should watch the pace of new substation awards, the roll-out of underground cable extensions and how quickly additional solar capacity is tied into the reinforced grid. These signals will shape the next phase of Dubai’s power-sector growth and define the depth of opportunity across transmission, renewables and adjacent infrastructure.
