DUBAI, 9th December, 2021 (WAM) — Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Chairman of the World Green Economy Organisation (WGEO), has received Abdou Karim Sall, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Senegal, to review Dubai’s latest achievements and discuss cooperation in the clean and renewable energy sector.
The meeting also reviewed key projects, initiatives, and programmes that consolidate the transition towards a green economy and sustainability.
The meeting was attended by Waleed bin Salman, Vice Chairman of WGEO, and Abdul Rahim Sultan, WGEO’s Director.
Al Tayer said that the UAE, represented by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, officially launched the World Green Economy Organisation in Dubai in 2016 in partnership with the United Nations. WGEO received the Observer Status from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), held recently in Glasgow, UK. WGEO aims to be part of international coalitions, alliances and partnerships to promote ambitious climate action.
Al Tayer highlighted DEWA’s major projects, initiatives, and programmes aiming to realise the vision and directives of the UAE’s wise leadership. DEWA has achieved competitive results in its global benchmarking, surpassing major European and American utilities. It has reduced losses from electricity transmission and distribution networks to 3.3 percent compared to 6-7 percent in the US and Europe. DEWA has also reduced its customer minutes lost to 1.66 minutes, compared with 15 minutes recorded by leading utilities in the European Union and the USA. DEWA’s water network losses have decreased to 5.1 percent, compared to 15 percent in North America.
"We have set a clear strategy and specific goals based on increasing the share of renewable and clean energy in Dubai’s energy mix. With a planned capacity of 5,000 megawatts by 2030, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world, using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, is one of our most prominent projects in this regard. When completed, the solar park will reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually," Al Tayer said.
The solar park’s projects constitute a cornerstone for realising the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100 percent of the energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.
Al Tayer said that DEWA has launched pioneering initiatives and projects to diversify clean energy sources. These include multiple clean and renewable energy sources and technologies such as solar photovoltaic solar panels, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), green hydrogen production using solar power, pumped-storage water technology using clean energy in Hatta, and research into electricity generation from wind power.
Al Tayer also highlighted the Green Hydrogen project at the outdoor facilities of DEWA’s Research and Development (R&D) Centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. This is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to produce eco-friendly hydrogen using renewable energy. Green hydrogen is a promising and environmentally friendly source of energy. The plant has been built to accommodate future applications and test platforms for the different uses of green hydrogen, representing one of the pillars of a sustainable future that depends on accelerating the transition to carbon neutrality to support a green economy.
Al Tayer noted that through its Shams Dubai initiative to connect photovoltaic solar systems on rooftops, DEWA has so far connected more than 6,880 photovoltaic installations on buildings in Dubai, with a total capacity of more than 365MW.