HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), received Antonio Alvarez, the Spanish Ambassador to the UAE; Erik Rovina, Commercial Counsellor at the Spanish Embassy, along with representatives of Spanish organisations and companies.
The meeting was attended by Nasser Lootah, Executive Vice President of Generation; Waleed 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; Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Government Communications at DEWA.
Al Tayer welcomed the visiting delegation and talked about the building closer ties and how Spanish companies can contribute to electricity and water projects in Dubai, especially in clean and renewable energy. He discussed ways to share best practices, experiences, and expertise in energy, water, and sustainability, to further develop these areas for mutual benefit.
Al Tayer discussed the projects, initiatives, and plans launched by DEWA to achieve the vision of the wise leadership, noting that DEWA’s strategy supports the UAE Centennial 2071, the UAE Vision 2021, and the Dubai Plan 2021 to ensure a sustainable, happy future and support the UAE’s aim to become first in everything. Al Tayer also highlighted DEWA’s experiences and best practices in anticipating and shaping the future of energy by pioneering a futuristic model for utilities in the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity and water. He said that DEWA has investments worth over AED 86 billion over the next five years to meet growing demand for electricity and water in the Emirate.
Al Tayer noted that DEWA currently has an installed capacity of 11,400 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 470 million gallons of water per day. This supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to provide 75% of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy by 2050. To achieve this, DEWA launched several renewable programmes and initiatives, including the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world. Using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, it will have a capacity of 5,000MW by 2030, including 4,000MW from photovoltaic solar panels and 1,000MW from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), with investments totalling AED 50 billion. Upon completion, the solar park will reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Al Tayer said that DEWA has adopted the IPP model in the solar park’s projects to promote public-private partnerships. Through this model, DEWA achieved five times the lowest international prices for electricity.
Al Tayer also discussed DEWA’s benchmarking, where it succeeded in establishing a culture of innovation across all its departments and divisions, contributing to receiving over 190 prestigious local and international awards over the past four years, including the highest award from the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model. DEWA has become the first non-European organisation to receive this prominent award and the first in the Award’s history to achieve it on its primary application. The UAE, represented by DEWA, maintained its global first ranking, for the third consecutive year, with scores of 100% in all indicators in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report.
The Spanish delegation expressed interest in participating in DEWA’s leading clean and renewable energy projects. The delegation also commended the bilateral relations between the two countries and DEWA for its efforts in achieving sustainable development in Dubai, stressing the importance of sharing best global experiences and practices in renewable energy and energy efficiency.