A new programme that aims to scale up the integration of energy efficiency into the industry sector in Dubai could be rolled out by 2021, a senior executive at Dubai’s leading energy service company has revealed.
Ali Al Jassim, chief executive at Etihad ESCO said that his company is considering industry-specific targets for the emirate, starting with its logistics sector, reported The National.
“What we see from experience, the most important thing for industrial facilities is solar because of large areas of roof that we have over these facilities so solar will be the most easy, quick win thing to do,” Al Jassim told The National in an interview in Dubai.
“Our plan was after 2021, some they come much earlier. We’re talking to some of them and some [have] also asked for feasibility study from us,” he added.
Energy efficiency programmes have gained currency in the Middle East, with the UAE and now Saudi Arabia looking to generate higher energy savings.
Etihad Esco had set targets of 20 per cent energy savings by 2021 and 30 per cent by 2030. Initial targets had already been exceeded with plans underway to revise targets.
Etihad Esco is eyeing Dh500 million worth of energy savings by 2030 from multi-million dollar projects, primarily from retrofitting and solar rooftop deployment.
Dubai has saved about Dh1.2 billion over the past decade due to its efforts to conserve electricity and water, and plans to reduce carbon emissions by 16 per cent by 2021 as well as energy and water use by 30 per cent by 2030, according to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.
The Super Esco will consider different targets for industry based on consumption baselines, with large Dubai conglomerates such as the Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dry Docks, DP World and industrial and government-backed entities the first to come under the purview of the efficiency programme.
“In smaller facilities, the savings will have less than one per cent [impact] so we don’t focus there. We look at the larger stakes, like groups of industries, these are our targets,” said Mr Jassim.
Al Jassim also sees similar appetite for industrial efficiency programmes in Abu Dhabi, particularly in the energy sector, but noted the emirate has yet to develop targets to generate energy and water savings.