DEWA delegation visits UK to boost renewable energy

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), is leading a delegation from DEWA to London to encourage British companies to take part in clean and renewable energy projects in Dubai and the UAE and also to promote the UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia) annual $1 million global award to find sustainable solutions to water scarcity around the world.

The delegation included Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at DEWA, Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA, Mohammed Abdul Kareem Al Shamsi, Senior Director of Sustainability and Climate Change at DEWA, and Ahmed Abdullah, Senior Manager of External Communications at DEWA.

Al Tayer met in London with Abdulrahman Ghanem Almutaiwee, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the UK, Graeme Lewis, Managing Director of Global Mobility at Air Energi, representatives from UK Trade & Investment, and a large number of leading British energy companies. He presented DEWA’s projects and initiatives on clean and renewable energy.

Al Tayer noted the strong relations between the UAE and the UK, which are based on strong economic, strategic, and cultural interests, and trade agreements.

He stressed that the traditionally-robust trading relationship has grown stronger in recent years, reaching GBP12 billion (AED63 billion) in 2015 in bilateral trade.

"This is one of the many reasons why some of Britain’s best-known firms have substantial operations in the UAE. They are a part of the 5,000 UK-based businesses that operate in the UAE and we want that number to increase. The UAE is the UK’s 12th largest trading partner. The UK is the greatest proponent of free trade and the UAE remains a hugely-attractive business opportunity. Over 100,000 British nationals live and work in the UAE, while over a million British tourists visit the country each year. This is mirrored by the thousands of Emiratis who come to the UK to visit, to work, or to study at your outstanding centres of academic excellence," said Al Tayer.

"Of course, the ties between the UK and the UAE go beyond current statistics and have been founded on a strong history of trade and friendship, which are the root of our joint economic, strategic and cultural interests. These close ties were formed by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founder of the UAE. These have grown stronger under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai," he said.

Al Tayer noted that Dubai has increased its cooperation with the UK on a range of issues such as trade and investment, energy and climate change, culture and education, health and sport, international development, and foreign policy relations.

"To achieve the UAE Vision 2021, we want to become one of the best countries in the world by 2021. This in turn, strengthens the UAE’s global competitiveness, especially in renewable energy, and green economy technologies and products. Dubai has a comprehensive vision for a sustainable future which is pivotal to the success of building a green economy."

Dubai has a comprehensive vision for a sustainable future which is pivotal to the success of building a green economy. In line with the Dubai Plan 2021, and the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, we aim to become a global role model by supporting Dubai’s economic growth, securing our energy supply, using energy efficiently and meeting our environmental and sustainability goals, to make Dubai a global centre for clean energy and green economy.

"Through the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 we aim to provide 7% of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy sources by 2020. This target will increase to 25% by 2030 and 75% by 2050. Dubai is focused on energy security and sustainability. We also realise the importance of reducing carbon emissions to preserve our planet. This ambitious strategy consists of five main pillars: infrastructure, legislation, funding, building capacities and skills, and an environmentally-friendly energy mix," Al Tayer continued.

"The Infrastructure pillar includes initiatives such as the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which is the largest single-site project to generate electricity from solar energy in the world, with a planned capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030, and total investment of $13.6 billion (AED 50 billion) to save approximately 6.5 million tonnes per annum in emissions. Our strategy involves moving from a carbon-intensive economy to a greener one, through the Dubai Green Fund, which is worth $27 billion, encouraging green investments and green growth."

Dubai established Etihad Energy Services Company (Etihad ESCO) to boost energy performance contracts by providing financial organisations the opportunity to invest in energy-efficient projects and obtain attractive returns. "We plan to retrofit over 30,000 buildings to make them energy-efficient in the first phase of this project along with our Demand Side Management programmes at a cost of AED 30 billion, bringing returns of AED 82 billion, and a net profit of AED 52 billion, as we place great importance on environmental issues that contribute to the sustainable development of the UAE," Al Tayer said.

"Our Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), the world’s largest district cooling services provider, aims to highlight the benefits of district cooling for both public and private sectors around the world as there is an urgent need to consolidate efforts to address the challenges facing the energy sector and create new business opportunities in renewable and clean energy. The UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia) was launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2015, to help millions of underprivileged people, who are in desperate need of drinkable water around the world. This initiative also has an annual USD1 million global award to find sustainable solutions to water scarcity around the world," he added.

Dubai is working to achieve the Smart Dubai initiative launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to make Dubai the smartest and the happiest city in the world. DEWA is doing this with three smart initiatives.

"The first, called Shams Dubai, installs solar panels in houses and buildings and connect them to DEWA’s grid. Through this initiative we have launched many solar rooftop projects, among them is the recently launched photovoltaic project which is one of the largest such projects on a single roof top in our M-station, with a total capacity of 1.5 MW. The second is Smart applications through smart grids and meters, and the third is the EV Green Charger initiative, where we have already installed 100 electric vehicle charging stations across the Emirate to support the use of electric vehicles in Dubai," explained Al Tayer.

"The smart grid is a key element in DEWA’s strategy to develop an advanced infrastructure to support Dubai becoming a smart city. Smart Grid also supports our target is to reduce energy consumption by 30% by 2030. The smart grid strategy contains eleven programmes with a total investment of USD2 Billion up to 2020. To contribute to organising the best World Expo in 2020 in Dubai, DEWA has allocated over AED2.6 billion (USD708 million) to support electricity, water, and renewable energy infrastructure projects, according to the highest international standards," he said.

"In Dubai, we rely on Public Private Partnerships based on Independent Power Producer (IPP) to drive economic prosperity and increase investments in the energy sector, in line with Dubai Government’s strategy to enhance sustainable economic development in the Emirate and build and establish strong partnerships with the private sector. We implemented this successful model in the second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park."

"Through this model Dubai has set a world record by obtaining the lowest price globally, at USD 5.6 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for Shuaa Energy 1, the company established by DEWA to complete the project according to UAE legislation. Through this model we got the lowest bid at 4.5 US cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the first and second phases of the 2,400MW Hassyan clean coal power plant. The plant will be the first-of-its-kind in the region and is fully-compliant with set international standards, adopting the use of ultra-supercritical technology."

"DEWA has also awarded a contract for the turnkey construction of the Jebel Ali M-Station expansion," he added.

The project is worth AED1.47 billion ($400 million) and will be completed in April 2018. M-station is the newest and largest power production and desalination plant in the UAE, with a current total capacity of 2,060MW of electricity and 140 million imperial gallons of water per day. The expansion project includes new power generation units with a capacity of 700MW to be added to the current capacity of the station to eventually produce 2,760MW by 2018.

"We in Dubai are always interested in discovering developments in international technology to further broaden our horizons and team up with international partners in renewable energy, while helping them to develop their innovative technology to improve our services. And I am sure there is much that British companies can offer in the UAE and the MENA region," concluded Al Tayer.

Source:WAM