HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), has received a high-level delegation from leading Dutch energy and water companies, headed by Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam in The Netherlands; and HE Hans Sandee, Consul General of the Netherlands in Dubai.
The meeting was attended by Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development & Excellence; Dr Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA; and Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Government Communications at DEWA.
Al Tayer welcomed the Mayor of Rotterdam and his accompanying delegation, emphasising the importance of strategic cooperation between DEWA and Dutch water and energy organisations, and working to develop them on a wider scale to mutually benefit from their different experiences.
Al Tayer presented DEWA’s most important development projects and strategic initiatives in Dubai that support the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. DEWA’s projects support the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, launched by His Highness to transform Dubai into a global hub for clean energy and green economy and make it the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world. To achieve these goals, DEWA launched several green programmes and initiatives, including 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, with a production capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030 and investments totalling AED 50 billion.
“The solar power projects currently operational in the solar park have a capacity of 413MW. DEWA at present has more projects under implementation with a capacity of 1,550MW, bringing the total capacity of the five phases announced so far to 2,863MW. We are on our way to reaching 5,000MW by 2030. DEWA also launched the Shams Dubai initiative to encourage building owners to install solar panels on rooftops and connect them to its grid, with a total capacity to date of about 81MW. The electricity peak load reached 8,507MW and DEWA’s total installed capacity is 11,100MW, while the peak demand for water reached 368 million gallons of desalinated water per day. DEWA installed capacity is 470 million gallons of desalinated water per day.
“DEWA achieved competitive results in its global benchmarking, surpassing major European and American utilities in efficiency and reliability. It reduced losses from electricity transmission and distribution networks to 3.3% compared to 6–7% in the US and Europe. DEWA also achieved the lowest customer minutes lost per year (CML) in the world of 2.39 CML, compared to 15 minutes in Europe,” said Al Tayer.
Al Tayer also added that DEWA managed to decrease water network losses from 42% in 1988 to 6.5% in 2018, compared to 15% in North America, which is one of the best results in the world. DEWA continues its efforts to replace Dubai’s entire water network by replacing old connections with new ones, replacing water meters, and developing new transmission and distribution networks that conform to the highest international standards, with stopping leaks in faulty systems eliminating much of the water loss. DEWA installed its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) to survey the water network and identify and remotely manage any potential leaks in the system. DEWA also adopted modern technologies to scan the transmission and distribution networks and prevent cracks from causing leaks in the system.
The Dutch delegation expressed interest in participating in DEWA’s projects in clean and renewable energy and water, commending DEWA’s efforts to achieve sustainable development in Dubai and reducing the city’s carbon footprint to create a better future for generations to come