During Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2023, HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), received a high-level Belgian delegation headed by HE Philippe Henry, Minister of Climate, Energy, Mobility and Infrastructure of Belgium, and HE Antoine Delcourt, Ambassador of Belgium to the UAE. The visiting delegation included representatives of six Belgian companies that work in the energy, water and infrastructure sectors.
Al Tayer also received a Canadian delegation headed by HE Catherine Stewart, Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change. The delegation included HE Jean-Philippe Linteau, Consul General of Canada in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, and Gabriel Jabbour, Trade Commissioner, Consulate General of Canada in Dubai.
The meetings, which were held at DEWA’s stand at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), part of ADSW, were attended by Waleed Bin Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development & Excellence; Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources; Marwan bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future, and Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Government Communications at DEWA.
Al Tayer said that the UAE has strong relations with Belgium and Canada. He emphasised that the UAE supports global efforts to address climate change by offering practical solutions to support low-carbon local sectors, implementing pioneering projects that support its future strategies and aspirations and building a successful model for a sustainable green economy. Al Tayer underlined the importance of promoting strategic cooperation with Belgian and Canadian companies, especially in infrastructure, sustainability, and renewable and clean energy.
During the meetings, Al Tayer highlighted DEWA’s key projects to achieve the vision of the wise leadership to provide a state-of-the-art infrastructure according to the highest international standards in line with the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, which maps out a comprehensive plan for sustainable urban development in Dubai. DEWA keeps pace with the increasing demand for energy and water by raising its production capacity, which has reached 14,517MW of electricity and 490 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of desalinated water. DEWA has also expanded its transmission and distribution networks to keep pace with the vast expansion of Dubai.
Al Tayer also talked about DEWA’s projects in sustainability and renewable and clean energy to implement the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of Dubai’s total power production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. One of the key projects DEWA is implementing to achieve this goal is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, with a planned capacity of 5,000MW by 2030. The current production capacity of the solar park is 2,027MW. This is around 14% of Dubai’s total power production capacity.
Al Tayer noted that DEWA’s results surpass major European and American utilities in several key performance indicators. Line losses from electricity transmission and distribution networks were reduced to 2.2% compared to around 6-7% in Europe and the USA. Water transmission and distribution network losses were also reduced to 4.5% compared to about 15% in North America. DEWA has achieved a new world record in electricity Customer Minutes Lost (CML) per year. Dubai recorded 1.19 minutes per customer, compared to around 15 minutes recorded by leading utility companies in the European Union.
Al Tayer noted that the ADSW and the Green Economy Summit organised by the World Green Economy Organization, DEWA, and the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy have, since their launch, succeeded in mobilising global efforts to promote climate action. They underline the need for concerted global efforts to combat climate challenges which affect the planet. The Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) and Dubai Solar Show, organised by DEWA, have become among the largest and most prominent specialised exhibitions in energy, water, environment, oil and gas, green development and related sectors.
Source: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority