Etihad Water and Electricity (EtihadWE) wins at Asian Power Awards 2025

The company was recognised for its efforts in expanding clean energy participation across the Northern Emirates.

Etihad Water and Electricity (EtihadWE) won Smart Grid Project of the Year - UAE in the Asian Power Awards 2025 for its Distributed Solar System (DSS) initiative.

Developed in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, the DSS project decentralises energy generation by integrating customer-owned rooftop solar PV systems into EtihadWE’s grid. It allows residential, agricultural, and industrial consumers across the Northern Emirates to become prosumers, both users and contributors of electricity. Customers can install rooftop PV systems of up to 10% of their connected load, capped at 1MW per site, and export electricity directly to the grid, receiving bill reductions through energy credits.

The initiative rests on a smart grid architecture that enables bi-directional energy flow, decentralised solar generation, and real-time balancing. To support secure adoption, EtihadWE and the Ministry co-developed a national technical and safety framework that sets installation, connectivity, and protection standards. This includes compatibility with smart metering, grid interface protocols, and real-time monitoring, creating one of the UAE’s first regulatory models for distributed solar integration.

By layering DSS over its advanced digital infrastructure, including AMI rollout, SCADA systems, and a SAP Cloud environment, EtihadWE provides grid operators with visibility into supply-demand dynamics. Real-time data from installations enhances load balancing, predictive demand planning, and grid optimisation. The company also employs AI-enabled analytics to forecast, track, and manage distributed solar within a flexible grid ecosystem.

Economically, the programme supports resilience and accessibility, with an initial 20MW annual capacity cap that preserves grid stability whilst broadening participation. It stimulates investment in local solar technologies and creates opportunities for remote or underserved communities to contribute to the clean energy transition. DSS represents a new model for smart grids in the UAE, embedding prosumer participation into grid operations and advancing national Net Zero 2050 objectives.

The Asian Power Awards celebrates the innovative and groundbreaking projects and initiatives in the power sector. Dubbed as the “Oscars” of the power industry, the awards programme honours companies that have taken game-changing steps to meet the growing energy demand.

The Asian Power Awards is presented by Asian Power Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2026 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's revolutionary innovations and initiatives, please contact Danica Avila at [email protected]