Thousands of energy industry professionals gathered at Dubai World Trade Centre on Tuesday for the opening day of WETEX 2026, with companies across the UAE's power, construction and technology sectors using the exhibition to set out their responses to surging electricity demand that existing infrastructure was not built to meet.
The Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition, organised annually by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), drew cable manufacturers, EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractors, property developers and enterprise technology companies under one roof, across several halls of the sprawling convention centre.
The conversations on the floor spanned the rising demand for more renewables and more data centres and an increasingly urgent need for the tools to manage it. Innovative solutions to meet these challenges, however, were not in short supply.
Surging demand for power
"This event is extremely significant in terms of presenting our capabilities to the utilities here," said Ranjod Singh, whose company Aasa Power has been working across the UAE’s power infrastructure for 30 years. "It provides a great platform for all the EPC contractors, the clients, the consultants and DEWA itself to come together. There is a lot of technological exchange, a lot of development happening."
The development happening outside the exhibition halls is relentless as the country continues to grow. Data centres are multiplying, residential masterplans are expanding into previously undeveloped areas, industrial zones are drawing new investment. And all of it needs power. "The power requirement will definitely outcast current capacity,” said Mr Singh. “We have to be ready."
His answer – and one of Aasa Power's headline showcases at this year's WETEX – is a containerised, mobile solar unit designed to serve construction sites without the need for diesel generators. The system deploys foldable solar panels from a transportable container, expanding remotely to generate clean electricity for site offices and equipment. The unit can shift from site to site and be reused indefinitely, addressing not just carbon emissions but the noise and power-quality problems diesel generation brings.
The challenges of raw materials
As the demand for power surges, as does the need for cables. Charles Mellagui, chief executive of the Cable Business Unit at DUCAB, laid out critical infrastructure requirements: "Some estimates say we need 80 million kilometres of transmission cable by 2040," he told The National. "Simply because of electrification and renewables, creating this need for cable."
To deliver at that scale, raw materials are the biggest challenge, he added. Copper demand is expected to nearly double globally in the years ahead, while a new copper mine requires a decade to reach full production. "We are in 2026," Mellagui said, "so the output will come fully by 2036, meaning there is a constraint on the supply chain." DUCAB's response includes a push to increase its use of recycled copper – currently at 12 to 13 percent – to more than 25 percent by 2040, alongside the development of cables using polypropylene, a greener and fully recyclable alternative to conventional materials.
This is why DUCAB, which counts DEWA, TAQA and Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) among its strategic partners, has been a fixture at WETEX for several years. "WETEX has grown year after year in terms of reputation and also in terms of international connection," Mr Mellagui said. "WETEX brings a lot of players in energy transition, in sustainability, in electrification together – they are bringing innovation, they are sharing solutions."
Leading with LEED
In the built environment, DAMAC Properties is showcasing at WETEX the shift in design and construction across its developments. Mohammed Tahaineh, chief projects officer at DAMAC, pointed to the recently completed DAMAC Lagoon as a marker of that shift. "It is the first master plan to get a Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certificate in the UAE," he said. "This required a lot of detail, studying a lot of design, using a lot of technologies that enhance the lifestyle of residents."
DAMAC has invested close to $50 million in its own offsite manufacturing facilities, producing bathrooms, kitchens, precast components and tiling systems under factory conditions. Around 80 per cent of its villas are now assembled from factory-made components, with composite construction technologies reportedly cutting concrete consumption by up to 30 to 40 per cent in some applications, with corresponding reductions in water and energy use through the build process.
"Today we are not considering sustainability or green building as a choice," Mr Tahaineh said. "It is a responsibility of us, as a leading development company in the region, to educate the people, to give them a sustainable lifestyle."
Mr Tahaineh has high expectations for WETEX this year. “I am expecting a lot from this,” he said. “I feel that our presence here is to know what else we can give our customers.” At the same time, there is knowledge exchange. “We are visiting companies, and a lot of companies are visiting us, to know what is new in sustainability and how we can save power and save water for the future generation.”
AI is the hot topic
Unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence was another recurring theme across the exhibition floor. For SAP, which has been a technology partner to DEWA and related organisations for more than 15 years, WETEX 2026 is an opportunity to take that conversation forward with major energy clients.
"The importance of this event for us is mainly two things," said Marwan Zeineddine, managing director of SAP UAE. "The networking with all our partners, and it's a big opportunity for us to showcase our latest innovations – especially around the autonomous enterprise and agentic AI."
SAP's vision is of an enterprise that runs finance, procurement, human resources, logistics and operations end-to-end through AI agents, governed, secure and drawing on an organisation's own data for accuracy. The company is in active conversations with DEWA about implementing these capabilities. It has also developed what it calls a green ledger – a control tower that tracks carbon emissions across all operations – a tool already deployed with major UAE industrial clients.
The fundamental challenge, Mr Zeineddine argued, is not ambition but pace. "The main challenge for all technology companies like SAP is speed – how quickly you can develop, especially in the AI era. You have to be very quick in developing and making sure your solutions work with the latest innovations. If you are late, someone else will be doing it.”
This is how events like WETEX become a platform for these innovative – and necessary – solutions. And this year it’s more important than ever, added Mr Zeineddine, as organisations respond to regional turbulence alongside global technological shifts. “The investments should be very smart.”
This page was produced by The National in partnership with WETEX and WGES.