Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Airports, as part of the efforts to expand cooperation and joint efforts to promote Smart Dubai, launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world, and to achieve the Dubai Plan 2021, which aims to make Dubai a smart, integrated, and connected city. The agreement aims at unifying the energies and resources, exchanging knowledge, innovation, ideas and effective communication to implement DEWA’s three smart initiatives at Dubai Airports, to meet the needs of the community and to achieve the overall interests of the Emirate of Dubai.
DEWA’s smart initiatives include: Shams Dubai, to encourage home and building owners to install photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on rooftops to produce energy and connect it to DEWA’s grid; and Smart Applications through Smart Meters and Grids, designed to speed up service delivery and response, to ensure the reconnection in case of service unplanned interruption, while rationalising smart energy consumption by monitoring consumption details simultaneously and at any time, using smart meters. The third initiative is the ‘Green Charger’ to establish the infrastructure for electric vehicle charging stations. This works to achieve society’s happiness, and to support the sustainability of resources.
“As part of DEWA’s efforts to achieve the sustainable development, and support the Smart Dubai initiative, launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world, we are pleased to sign the MoU with Dubai Airports. We are committed to strengthening our cooperation and working together to integrate Dubai’s government institutions for the public good by implementing the three smart initiatives we launched, in 2014, to drive Dubai’s smart transformation, at Dubai Airports’ specified locations. This ensures the management of Dubai’s services and facilities through connected and smart systems. DEWA’s smart initiatives include the ‘Shams Dubai’ leading initiative to increase reliance on solar energy through the installation of PV solar panels on rooftops. We have already installed photovoltaic panels on 439 buildings with a total capacity of 17.6 megawatts (MW). This will increase in the future to eventually cover all buildings in the Emirate by 2030. The customers’ solar photovoltaic systems connected to DEWA’s grid so far include, among others, the rooftop of the employees’ building at Dubai World Central (DWC), which was the first Shams Dubai project with a capacity of 30 kilowatts at peak load (kWp), as well as the solar energy panels at Dubai International Airport’s Concourse D building,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.
“The second initiative is Smart Applications through Smart Meters and Grids, which provide many smart features for customers, including automatic and detailed reading, enabling them to monitor actual consumption and contribute to solutions to rationalise the consumption of electricity and water. DEWA has successfully installed 200,000 smart meters by January 2016, and plans to complete the installation of 1,200,000 smart meters by 2020. Smart meters will replace the mechanical and electromechanical counters, all over Dubai. The third initiative is the Green Charger for the construction of infrastructure and electric vehicle charging stations to encourage the public to acquire environmentally friendly vehicles. 100 electric vehicle charging stations were installed successfully, in different locations in Dubai, by the end of 2015, in coordination with the institutions responsible. This cooperation comes within the framework of DEWA’s plan to double this number to 200 in 2018,” added Al Tayer.
“The three smart initiatives are part of DEWA’s efforts in the field of smart transformation, in accordance with a clear strategy that is in line with the latest technology and latest developments. DEWA has succeeded in transforming all its services into smart services, within one year of the launch of the Smart Dubai initiative, providing smart and timely services that enable customers to complete their transactions anywhere and at any time, without visiting DEWA’s customer happiness centres. This saves their time and effort, and promotes DEWA’s vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility,” concluded Al Tayer.
“In line with the long-term goals of aviation industry, Dubai Airports’ vision is to ultimately attain carbon-neutral growth, and this cooperation represents an important step towards achieving that goal,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.
“Dubai Airports is constantly seeking innovative ideas and new technologies designed to limit our environmental impact through an integrated environmental strategy, while supporting the UAE Vision 2021, Dubai Plan, and the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy’s goal of achieving 20% reduction in utilities bill for all government buildings by 2020,” added Griffiths.