HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), inaugurated the 20th Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX 2018) and the 3rd Dubai Solar Show. His Highness was accompanied by HE Matar Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman of DEWA. DEWA organised the exhibition under the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; and under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Both events will be held until 25th October 2018 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC). The theme is ‘At the forefront of sustainability,’ and under the umbrella of the 5th Green Week. The exhibitions cover 78,413 square metres with over 2,100 exhibitors from 53 countries and in conjunction with the 5th World Green Economy Summit.
HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Chairman of DEWA and other VIPs, toured the exhibition and were briefed about various innovations, solutions and new products such as energy and water desalination, green technologies, clean and renewable energy, environmental sustainability, and oil & gas ring the tour of the exhibition area, His Highness visited the DEWA stand, which has a scale model of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. The solar park’s capacity is expected to reach 5,000MW by 2030, with investments of up to AED 50 billion. Upon completion, the solar park will help reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum was also briefed on the model of the pumped storage hydroelectric power station, the first-of-its-kind in the Arabian Gulf that uses water stored in the Hatta Dam to generate up to 250 MW, the 400MW pumped hydro storage island in the Arabian Gulf, with 2,500MWh of storage capacity and a model of the region’s first solar-driven hydrogen electrolysis facility at DEWA, in cooperation with Siemens, DEWA’s outdoor testing facilities at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai.
Over the last 19 years, WETEX has achieved great success and has managed to establish itself as one of the world’s leading and most important exhibitions in water, environment and energy. In 2017, there were 1,950 companies from 50 countries exhibiting, while the area of the exhibition covered 70,000 square metres, attracting around 31,000 visitors and 75 sponsors.
Meanwhile, the Dubai Solar Show is an impetus to the international efforts to develop the solar power sector, which is a cornerstone of sustainability. The event highlights the most important energy initiatives in Dubai that are main pillars in implementing the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050. The show will focus on the solar projects led by Dubai and the UAE.