HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), has received a German delegation, headed by Rainer Baake, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, at DEWA’s stand during its participation at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi. The meeting supports DEWA’s commitment to enhance cooperation and joint work, and exchange expertise and best practices with international organisations.
The meeting was attended by HE Ahmed Buti Al Muhairbi, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Energy in Dubai, Dr Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources of DEWA, Marwan Bin Haider, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future, and Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Government Communications at DEWA.
During the meeting, Al Tayer commended the strong ties between the UAE and Germany in many areas. The meeting discussed their efforts in renewable energy and innovation. Al Tayer highlighted the efforts of the UAE and Dubai in diversifying energy sources, and DEWA’s projects that support the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, to diversify the energy mix so clean energy will generate 75% of Dubai’s total power output by 2050. He also underlined the attractive environment that Dubai provides for international companies investing in solar projects.
Al Tayer talked about the progress achieved in DEWA’s projects and the global competitive prices it received for the Independent Power Producer (IPP) solar projects in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which is the largest single-site solar park in the world based on the IPP model. The solar park has a planned capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030, with total investments of AED 50 billion. When completed, it will save approximately 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
Al Tayer elaborated on DEWA’s global achievements, especially in achieving the lowest customer minutes lost per year (CML), of 2.6 minutes in 2017, as well as the highest efficiency rates in its projects. He also discussed DEWA’s initiatives that support the Smart Dubai initiative to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world. These include: Shams Dubai to connect photovoltaic solar systems on building rooftops to DEWA’s grid, Smart Applications through Smart Meters and Grids, and the Green Charger to build the infrastructure and electric vehicle charging stations.
The German delegation commended DEWA’s efforts and projects to increase the share of renewable and clean energy in Dubai’s energy mix. The German side expressed interest in participating in DEWA’s projects, especially the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.