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Water

Make it rain: UAE pins its hopes on cloud seeding

Condensation streaming down windows is a familiar sight in Dubai’s summer, an illusion of rain at the hottest time of year.  The UAE’s average rainfall is extremely low in August, but in recent years there has been a rise, which some experts attribute to cloud seeding – when a dedicated fleet of planes take to […]

Sharjah wins waste-to-energy race as rest of region cleans up its act

Dubai had the Gulf’s first “seven-star” hotel and Abu Dhabi hosted the inaugural “day-night” Formula One Grand Prix. The emirate of Sharjah can claim a UAE first too – one that is less glitzy but potentially more transformative – the first waste-to-energy power plant. The Sharjah waste-to-energy facility, officially inaugurated in May, adds another dimension […]

Dubai utility DEWA’s Q2 profit up 37% on growing energy demand

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) reported a net profit of AED 2.61 billion ($707.9 million), up 37 percent year-on-year, in the second quarter of 2022 on higher energy demand. Revenue rose 14 percent year-on-year to AED 7.01 billion during the three month period ended June 30, 2022. The utility provider’s first half of 2022 […]

Saudi PIF-owned firm plans $29bn worth of water projects

Saudi Arabia’s National Water Company (NWC) intends to tender 1,429 projects worth more than SAR108 billion ($28.80 billion), the state-owned utility services provider said in a statement. The announcement by NWC, which is owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF), continued the company’s plans to develop water and environmental infrastructure projects […]

Meet the Irishman selling ice in the desert

In the ever-competitive Dubai bar and restaurant market, a new supplier has launched this week, aiming to offer venues another unique selling point: high quality, hand-cut ice. Since he officially launched on August 1, John Gillespie, founder of Artisan Ice Co., has been targeting the top 30 venues in the city and he said the […]

UAE invests in future flood control after record rainfall

The UAE’s recent record levels of rainfall, resulting in loss of life and flood damage, pose budgetary challenges for authorities, but also opportunities for regional infrastructure investors. The National Centre of Meteorology said last month was the wettest July in the UAE for over 40 years. It said that 234.9mm of rain fell between 22:30 […]

Person, Human, Table

Food security report delivers stark warning to import-reliant Gulf

GCC governments must step up their efforts to develop agri-food technology and recycle waste, a new food security report has warned. The Gulf is one of the world’s most import-dependent regions. The main food security challenge for the GCC is a natural or man-made crisis that could block one or more countries’ access to imports, […]

GCC embraces public-private partnerships to drive projects

Public-private partnerships will become more important across a wider range of sectors in the Gulf region as countries continue to diversify their economies, say experts. With the total value of planned and unawarded projects in the GCC countries expected to reach $2 trillion, governments are seeking more private sector support in infrastructure projects delivery. “Both […]

Dubai’s DEWA to invest over $10bn as energy demand rises

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) plans to invest 40 billion dirhams ($10.89 billion) on capital expenditure over the next few years, just a day after it announced energy demand in the emirate rose by 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2022. The firm provides electricity and water services to 3.5 million people […]

Gulf construction may face imminent sand shortage

A little-known fact: the sand used in the concrete to build Dubai’s 829-metre tall Burj Khalifa was imported from Australia. While water scarcity generates much concern, sand shortages are only beginning to receive attention – especially in the desert metropolises of the Gulf. A report in April by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) highlighted […]