UAE President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a new decree for the establishment of Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) as a public shareholding company replacing the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company (Adwec), according to a report.

Ewec, which will be under the umbrella of Abu Dhabi Power Corporation, will pave the way for the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa) to join the new company, with the objective of unifying water production and power generation efforts in Abu Dhabi and the emirates that are currently served by Fewa, said the state news agency Wam.

The establishment of Ewec comes following recommendations by the UAE Government annual meetings, held in Abu Dhabi in November, to build effective partnerships across the country’s vital sectors, stated the report. Teams representing federal and local entities gathered to focus on developing government work, discuss current and future challenges, and come up with national initiatives and effective recommendations to take government work further, towards achieving UAE Vision 2021.

Work is currently under way to finalise integration agreements between Ewec and Fewa, and once this gets done, the two entities will work towards unifying water production and power generation.

Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi has been appointed chairman of the new company which will be based in Abu Dhabi.

As per the agreement, Ewec will handle purchasing, selling, planning, organising and managing supply and demand and trade of water and electricity production in Abu Dhabi and the majority of the country’s emirates. The new company will provide water production and power generation services in accordance with the highest standards of transparency, reliability and competitive costing, and it aims to enhance production capacity efficiency in the UAE, said the Wam report.

Once operational, the company will cover the water and power needs of the majority of the UAE and would be responsible for distributing more than 80 terawatts of electricity and 1.2 billion cu m of water in the country annually.

The new company will also oversee the power and water projects that are currently under way and that will contribute to a system able to supply over 1,000 million daily gallons of water and more than 25 gigawatts of electricity, once completed.