HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), has participated in a panel discussion under the theme ‘Knowledge…and Future Cities,’ during the 3rd Knowledge Summit 2016. DEWA is a main sponsor of the summit. The panel included Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General of the Smart Dubai Office, Vivek Wadhwa, Academic, Researcher, Writer and Entrepreneur, Bibop G. Gresta Chairman and Co-Founder of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, and Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies.
The Knowledge Summit is the most important knowledge event in the region, and is organised by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, under the patronage of HH Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and under the directives of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation. The Summit takes place in Dubai on 5-7 December, under the theme ‘Knowledge – Present and Future.’ During a session held at the summit, Al Tayer highlighted the components, challenges, and pros of Future Cities. Al Tayer also highlighted the efforts of Dubai Government to predict the future, in addition to discussing the Smart Dubai initiative, smart cities, and the progress of knowledge in technology.
“The UAE’s wise leadership has a vision to predict the future, and to make the UAE the smartest and most sustainable country in the world, which falls in line with the UAE Vision 2021. We strive to achieve the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the National Innovation Strategy and the Dubai Innovation Strategy to transform Dubai into a smart, innovative, integrated, connected and sustainable city. According to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a smart city is one that enables the management of all its facilities and services using integrated and connected electronic systems. Technology is a key element for transforming cities into smart ones. Used effectively and efficiently, technological innovation promotes a happy lifestyle for citizens and residents. A smart city becomes the best place to live and work, attracts investments, and is a tourist destination,” said Al Tayer.
“A smart city is a place for creative and empowered people. The people are the cornerstone of a smart city. They are its main drivers for continuous development, creativity, and innovation. Their efficiency is the backbone for the growth and development of these cities. Close cooperation by all stakeholders, including urban developers, water, electricity, communications, transportation, educational, and healthcare service providers, and other government and private organisations, is needed for a smart city to thrive and grow. Technological development also means new challenges, such as the network security of data and personal documents, and the potential for them to be distributed or destroyed. These risks are present within the networks of smart grids. Smart infrastructure is expensive and for it to be successful, it requires a majority of citizens to be connected to the Internet. It also requires monitoring devices and communication infrastructure, which are important tools for communication,” added Al Tayer.
“Establishing a successful Smart city infrastructure also requires that the community is able to use modern technologies, while keeping up to date with its rapid development. DEWA launched three smart initiatives, as part of its efforts to achieve the Smart Dubai initiative, to transform Dubai into the smartest and happiest city in the world, and to empower, deliver, and promote an efficient, seamless, safe, and impactful urban experience, for citizens, residents and visitors. DEWA launched the Shams Dubai initiative, which encourages the community to install solar panels on building rooftops. The Smart Applications and Meters initiative aims to speed up connections, respond faster, and save energy. The Green Charger initiative establishes the infrastructure for electric vehicle charging stations.”
“The smart grid is a key element in our strategy. DEWA’s investment in the smart grid is estimated at about AED 7 million (USD 2 million). This includes 11 programmes up to 2020. This will help Dubai to become the smartest city in the world. Smart grids also support our target to reduce energy consumption by 30% by 2030. We adopt the best international practices, including operating systems, mobile computing and cloud computing virtualisation, distribution systems, software engineering, Internet of Things (IoT), robotic technologies, and Big and Open Data, and studying customer behaviour. DEWA also makes use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to assist in energy and water. This supports our strategic vision, including smart electricity and water networks. DEWA conducts research to develop models, and smart grid technologies and systems, in addition to monitoring energy consumption trends. It researches the effect that new technologies have on the grids, from renewable energy sources, to storage techniques and electric vehicle infrastructure, and research 3D printing.”
“To realise DEWA’s vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility, and in line with the DEWA2021 strategy, which supports the Dubai Plan 2021, we work closely with our partners to implement major and pioneering water and electricity projects, to ensure economic, environmental and social sustainability and to make Dubai the smartest and happiest sustainable city in the world,” said Al Tayer.
“To enhance sustainability, we strive to achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050. DEWA is working to diversify the energy mix, so that clean energy will generate 7% of Dubai’s total power output by 2020, 25% by 2030 and 75% by 2050. We have launched several projects and initiatives to achieve this goal. One is The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world to produce electricity, with a planned capacity to produce 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030.His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, launched the World Green Economy Organisation (WGEO) during the World Green Economy Summit on 5th of October 2016. WGEO will be a pioneer in Green Economy as it will bring together governments, the public and private sectors, foundations, UN agencies, the banking system and civil society to work collectively to achieve green economic goals, and to become a mechanism to innovate on climate change, sustainable energy, and other challenges faced by the water and environmental sectors around the world,” added Al Tayer.
“The Dubai Green Fund covers financing solutions for investment in R&D on clean energy, and its applications. This pillar includes the establishment of the Dubai Green Fund, which is worth AED 100 billion. Environmentally-friendly energy mix: solar energy 25%, nuclear power 7%, clean coal 7%, gas 61% by 2030. To diversify energy resources and increase dependence on clean and renewable energy, DEWA announced a strategic project to build a hydroelectric power station that will make use of the water stored in the mountains next to Al Hattawi dam in Hatta. This project that will be completed in 5 years is the first of its kind in the GCC. It will produce 250MW with a lifespan of 60-80 years,” said Al Tayer.
DEWA launched its Sustainable Building, which is the first sustainable government building in the UAE and the largest government building in the world to receive a Platinum Rating for green buildings from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The building consumes 66% less energy than similar buildings and has a 660 kilowatt (kW) solar power plant. It also has reduced its water consumption by 48%.
“DEWA has started construction of a new headquarters. The new building, named Al-Sheraa (Arabic for sail), will be the tallest, largest, and smartest net-Zero- Energy Building (ZEB) in the world, which means no carbon emissions after the installation of the photovoltaic panels. The total built-up area of Al-Sheraa will cover 1.5 million square feet. The additional area comprises parking, engineering facilities, and green spaces. The building will have over 16,500 square metres of photovoltaic solar panels to produce over 3,500 kW. There will be about 10,000 square metres of Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPVs), producing 1,100kW. The total amount of renewable energy generated by the building will be 7,000MW/h per year. The building will have an Energy Utilisation Intensity (EUI) of 70kW/h per square metre per year. The building will be ready by 2019,” concluded Al Tayer.
The Knowledge Summit is the first event to fully focus on knowledge localisation. It gathers regional and international organisations, leaders, and experts to launch initiatives and programmes to help transform the Arab community into a knowledge-based one. For stakeholders, decision makers, and specialists, this annual event constitutes the ideal platform to develop future plans and policies, and foster programmes and innovative ideas that help raise awareness on knowledge issues all over the world
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