Day: July 17, 2022

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DEWA’s IPP projects enhance promising investments flow to UAE, Dubai

DUBAI, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), announced that the capacity of DEWA’s current projects with the private sector using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model exceed 4,000 megawatts (MW), with investments amounting to over AED40 billion.

He said that through this model, DEWA was able to save an additional investment of approximately AED 26 billion, which allows DEWA to invest in other infrastructure projects. Al Tayer noted that the IPP model encourages partnership between the public and private sectors. Through this model, DEWA has achieved world-class results and developed a new benchmark for solar energy prices for every kilowatt hour, thus making Dubai a global benchmark for solar energy prices. DEWA attracted promising investments to the UAE from the private sector and foreign banks, which led to an increase in cash flow to the economy of Dubai and the UAE.

Al Tayer added that the regulatory and legislative frameworks in Dubai enable the private sector to participate in energy generation projects in the emirate of Dubai and encouraged international investors and developers to participate in the projects at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which is implemented by DEWA using the IPP model.

“The IPP projects contribute to achieving the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the global capital of the green economy and support the goals of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100 percent of Dubai’s power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. Previously, DEWA adopted the EPC model (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) for our power generation projects. Since 2014, DEWA has pioneered the IPP project management and implementation model,” Al Tayer explained.

DEWA’s key projects using the IPP model include Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, Hassyan Power Complex and Hassyan Desalination Plant.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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UAE national jiu-jitsu team harvests five medals in World Games Competition in Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, USA,The UAE national jiu-jitsu team of five athletes has added two medals in the 11th edition of the World Games hosted by Birmingham, USA, from 7 to 17 July, 2022, bringing its total harvest to five medals (two gold medals, two bronze and one silver).

UAE’s Faisal Al Ketbi captured the gold medal in the 85kg category, while the 19-year old Shamma Al Kalbani won the bronze in the open weight division, becoming the first Emirati athlete to achieve such a global landmark victory.

A jiu-jitsu squad of five athletes from the UAE qualified for the games, building on an impressive performance at the 2017 Games in Warsaw, Poland. Last time out, Al Ketbi won the gold medal in the under-94kg.

Abdel Moneim Al Hashemi, Chairman of the UAEJJF, and Senior Vice President of the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation (JJIF), called the UAE team to offer his congratulations.

Fahad Ali Al Shamsi, Secretary General of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF), attended the award-giving ceremony, and congratulated Faisal Al Ketbi and Shamma Al Kalbani on the winning.

Tariq Al-Bahri, Director of the Abu Dhabi Professional Jiu-Jitsu Association, Mubarak Al Menhali, Director of the Technical Department, UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation’s (UAEJJF), and Joachim Thumfart, Director-General of the Jiu-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF), watched the closing day competitions.

Considered a global showpiece for sports yet to be included in the Olympic Games, the prestigious World Games 2022 featured approximately 3,600 participants from 100 nations competing across more than 30 sports.

The Emirati stars included Faisal Al Ketbi (85kg), Muhammad Al Amri (77kg), Muhammad Al Suwaidi (69kg), Shamma Al Kalbani (63kg) and Balqees Abdelkareem (48 kg).

Source: Emirates News Agency

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UAE President sends letter to President of Turkmenistan

ASHGABAT, The President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedow, has received a written message from President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, inviting him to visit the UAE in line with strengthening relations between their countries.

This came as President Berdimuhamedow received, at the Presidential Palace in Ashgabat, Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, and his accompanying delegation, during their official visit to the Republic of Turkmenistan.

Al Mazrouei conveyed to him the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, wishing him and the people of Turkmenistan further progress and prosperity.

In turn, Turkmenistan’s President reciprocated the greetings of the UAE leaders, wishing them and the people of UAE continued successes.

On the sidelines of the visit, Al Mazrouei met with Rasit Meredow, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, and reviewed with him ways of developing bilateral relations across all fields.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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UAE to develop and launch advanced radar satellite constellation under new AED3 billion space sector fund

ABU DHABI, Under the auspices of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai UAE, the UAE Space Agency today announced a new AED3 billion national investment and development fund for the space sector, The National Space Fund.

The Fund will support ground breaking new programmes launched to support international and Emirati companies co-operating in leading edge space sector engineering, sciences and research applications. The Fund’s first project to be launched to space will be a constellation of advanced remote sensing satellites using radar technologies to provide unparalleled imaging capabilities.

Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, said: “A long-term plan and programme for the development of the Emirates’ space sector is in place to create economic opportunities, new jobs and help to fund global partnerships and new leaders in technology, space sciences and engineering here in the UAE. We are planning for a bright future filled with new challenges and openings for our young people – and this fund is precisely targeted at building opportunities for international co-operation in building Emirati enterprises.”

The Fund will actively encourage partnerships between international and local enterprises, providing them with incentives as a part of the UAE Space Agency’s Space Economic Zones Programme.

Salem Al Qubaisi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency, said, “The National Space Fund will encourage global partnerships to establish themselves here in the Emirates, providing new and vital technology platforms and development to answer the needs of the UAE Space Programme and other global customers for vital innovation and technologies that answer the needs and possibilities of today’s world.”

The Fund’s first investment will be in the development and launch of a constellation of advanced imaging satellites for the Emirates, using the SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) technology. The constellation is to be named Sirb after the Arabic term for a flock of birds, and will address the critical need for better environmental and land usage monitoring, data collection and analysis to meet today’s global challenges.

The planned satellites will be able to create highly detailed and complex radar ‘images’ of land use, ice cover, surface changes and characterisation, with a wide range of scientific, civil and commercial applications.

Sarah Al Amiri commented, “SAR technology leapfrogs traditional imaging satellites, providing more powerful imaging using X-band radar technologies, allowing us to continue observations day and night, through fog and cloud cover as well as combining observations to create big data pictures simply not possible through conventional imaging. These small-scale satellites are more agile, faster to develop and more powerful – an indicator of the types of new generation systems that technology is now making possible.”

SAR technology combines the power of imaging satellites with cloud and ground penetrating capabilities that will open up applications from urban planning to archaeology and from weather prediction to atmospheric quality analysis and climate change mapping. Critically, the SAR radar-based technology can provide high-resolution images for remote sensing applications regardless of sunlight illumination and weather conditions.

The six-year satellite development programme will see the first satellite launch in three years, a much faster time to launch than was possible using traditional earth observation satellite design principles. The Sirb satellites will be built through a number of partnerships between the Emirati public and private sector together with international players, with submissions being opened for a range of system integration, development and subsystem construction opportunities as part of the constellation development, launch, operation and commercialisation plan.

As well as addressing critical human needs for more wide-ranging data, the Sirb constellation provides a private sector opportunity that bridges the gap between the Emirates Mars Mission and the upcoming Beyond Mars Mission to Venus and the Main Asteroid Belt, due to launch in 2028.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Public Prosecution praises judicial cooperation with US

ABU DHABI, The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction over crimes of money laundering and tax evasion, has convicted the accused Assem Abdul Rahman Ghafour, who has an American citizenship, of committing two crimes of tax evasion and money laundering related to a tax evasion operation in his country, sentencing him to three years in prison and a fine of AED3 million, with deportation from the UAE.

The case arose upon the American authorities’ request for judicial assistance regarding their investigations of the accused for tax evasion and making suspicious money transfers to the state, and their inquiry about his bank accounts receiving those transfers and related transactions.

The UAE Public Prosecution (PP) in Abu Dhabi started its procedures to implement and study the judicial assistance request and verify the nature of the financial transactions related to the aforementioned accounts and bank transfers, and found suspicion of money laundering crime that occurred in the country, through the accused’s carrying out international transfers without proof of their source.

Based on the findings of the Public Prosecution’s investigations, the accused was referred in absentia to the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court on charges of tax evasion and money laundering, which issued a ruling in absentia penalising him with imprisonment for a period of three years, a fine of AED3 million and deportation.

The UAE Public Prosecution praised the mutual coordination to combat transnational crimes with the United States, which led to the arrest of the accused, and his presentation to the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court in accordance with the legal procedures established in this regard.

Source: Emirates News Agency