HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer highlights DEWA’s contribution to transformation of Dubai into the smartest and happiest city in the world

 HE Saeed Mohmmed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity Authority (DEWA) and Chairman of the World Green Summit, participated in a plenary session on the second day of the summit, on Sustainability, Technology and People. The World Green Economy Summit is organised under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on 5-6 October at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The plenary session was moderated by HE Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General of the Smart Dubai Office. Other panellists were HE Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality, HE Matar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai, Steve Skadron, Mayor of the City of Aspen, Murali Sivaraman, President of Lighting Growth Markets in Phillips Lighting, and Xavier Joseph, CEO of Veolia Middle East.

Al Tayer noted that utilities worldwide are not actually integrated. Instead, generation, transmission, and distribution companies are segregated. However, Dubai has an integrated system to provide Dubai’s citizens and residents with a continuous and reliable supply of electricity and water.

“In Dubai, we work tirelessly to achieve the Smart Dubai initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the smartest and the happiest city in the world. To support this vision we have launched 3 smart initiatives. The first, called Shams Dubai, installs solar panels in buildings and connects them to DEWA’s grid. The second are the Smart applications through smart grids and meters, and the third is the Green Charger initiative,” said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer pointed out that the smart grid is a key element in DEWA’s strategy to develop an advanced infrastructure to support Dubai becoming a smart city. It is a solid stepping stone to enhance energy efficiency and resources sustainability. The smart grid strategy contains 11 programmes with a total investment of AED 7 billion (USD 2 billion) up to 2020. The smart grid is set to be the first integrated network in the world to cover generation, transmission, and distribution to customers.  It features several smart elements including smart homes.

“According to the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, a smart city is one that enables the management of all its facilities and services using integrated and connected electronic systems. It provides high-speed internet service to everyone in public areas. It also installs sensors everywhere to seamlessly provide information and services. All these measures enhance the quality of life for all people living and visiting Dubai, making people happier, while at the same time enhancing the integration and resource efficiency of the city. A smart city is a place for creative and empowered people who live in a cohesive society that works within a sustainable and competitive economic system that adopts global standards using the latest technologies and creative innovations. Technological creativity and innovation is a key enabler that ensures a stimulating and creative environment for the optimal use of available resources in smart cities. It creates a social communications system, and an efficient and easy-to-use infrastructure for services such as transportation, communications, electricity, water, and educational services. It is no secret that many countries across the world suffer from a scarcity of water and energy resources. Water and electricity are essential necessities for people to live, and are the basis for economic and social development. One of the prospects of smart cities is to provide energy and water for everyone, with a focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and a reduced environmental impact.”

“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 growth and development of these cities. Close cooperation of all stakeholders, including urban developers, water, electricity, communications, transportation, educational, and healthcare service providers, and other government and private organisations are needed for a smart city to thrive and grow. Smart cities have to include high-quality knowledge communications, social infrastructure, and tools for leaders of future smart cities to analyse data, monitor expectations and unexpected circumstances and respond accordingly, take appropriate decisions, and find efficient and effective solutions, while optimising resources,” added Al Tayer.

“Dubai gives priority to environmental sustainability and the happiness of its citizens, residents and visitors, to provide a healthy environment for the public. Dubai is already on its way to becoming a smart, integrated, connected city that is clean, healthy, and sustainable. DEWA gives priority to R&D, sustainability, renewable energy, and photovoltaic technology, in adherence with DEWA’s vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility, and in line with the Dubai Innovation Strategy to make the Emirate the most innovative city in the world,” noted Al Tayer.

Talking about the key foundations to build or transform cities into smart ones, and how to manage the interplay between citizens, smart technologies, and low-carbon strategies, Al Tayer said, “One of the main foundations for the transition into smart cities is to develop a vision, turn it into a plan and measure its progress. Other elements include safety, seamlessness, awareness, and the impact on the happiness of its people. The success of smart transition requires a stimulating and efficient environment that attracts investments, has efficient connections, and integrated urban planning. Smart transition also requires people with the right skills, creativity and competencies to manage the smart transition to ensure we supply the future requirements of smart cities. Technological innovation must be harnessed to serve the people and make them happy. Governance, seamlessness and transparency in providing information enables decision-makers to review the available options and take effective, quick decisions that achieve the objectives of a smart city. Energy-source diversification and sustainability is one of the main foundations in the transition towards a smart and sustainable city.

Al Tayer noted that Dubai has launched a Carbon Abatement Strategy that aims to reduce carbon emissions by 16% by 2020 of 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. DEWA has played a key role already in reducing carbon emissions in Dubai by 8.8%. We need all these criteria to be comprehensively integrated to successfully transform into a smart and sustainable city.

Talking about the measures and initiatives of DEWA to achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which has set a target of 75% of Dubai’s total power output coming from clean energy by 2050, Al Tayer said, “HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to make Dubai a global centre of clean energy and green economy. The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy aims to provide 7% of Dubai’s power from clean energy by 2020. It will increase this target to 25% by 2030 and 75% by 2050. The strategy consists of five main pillars: Infrastructure, legislation, funding, building capacities and skills, and an environmentally-friendly energy mix.”

DEWA has launched many projects and initiatives to achieve this target. These include the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which is the largest single-site photovoltaic solar project in the world with a capacity to produce 5,000 MW by 2030, and total investment of AED 50 billion. The first phase of this project began operations in 2013 with a capacity of 13MW. The 200MW photovoltaic second phase is under construction based on the Independent Power Producer model and will begin operations in April 2017. The 800MW photovoltaic third phase will be constructed in stages. Recently, DEWA launched one of the largest CSP plants in the world with a planned total capacity of 1,000 MW.

The Innovation Centre features a group of research and development centres specialised in the next generation of clean energy technologies such as a solar testing facility, a drone research centre, 3D printing technology, and a solar-energy-powered desalination test centre. AED 500 million will be invested in research and development in the integration of smart grids, energy efficiency and electricity generation from solar energy.

Shams Dubai aims to install solar panels in buildings and connect them to DEWA’s grid. Through this initiative DEWA has launched many solar rooftop projects, among them is the recently-launched photovoltaic project which is one of the largest such projects on a single roof top in M-station, with a total capacity of 1.5 MW. DEWA has now received requests to generate over 130MW since its launch.

The green financing pillar includes the establishment of the Dubai Green Fund worth of AED100 billion, which will contribute easy loans for investors in clean energy in the Emirate.

The pillar to build knowledge and skills will build global training programmes in clean energy in cooperation with international organisations and institutes such as the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and international companies and R&D centres. This pillar will contribute to the creation of a sustainable model for research and development in clean energy based on specialised skillsets.

The fifth pillar focuses on creating an environmentally-friendly energy mix with 25% coming from solar energy, 7% from nuclear power, 7% from clean coal, 61% from gas by 2030. The energy mix will gradually increase the employment of clean energy to 75% by 2050, making Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world. 

Al Tayer noted that DEWA established Etihad ESCO to boost energy performance contracts by providing financial organisations the opportunity to invest in energy-efficient projects and obtain attractive returns, with the new regulatory framework ensuring that all risks are addressed. Financial institutions can become active partners in the sustainable development vision of Dubai, with plans to retrofit over 30,000 buildings to make them energy-efficient in the first phase of this project along with our Demand Side Management programmes at a cost of AED 30 billion bringing returns of AED 82 billion and a net profit of AED 52 billion, as we place great importance on environmental issues that contribute to the sustainable development of the UAE.

Talking about the impact of adopting IT infrastructure on the standard of living of citizens and residents, Al Tayer said that 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 attracts investments, becomes a tourist attraction, and a global role model.

“We greatly appreciate HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai for his investment of AED 1 billion in projects and companies taking part in Dubai Future Accelerators. This ambitious international programme was launched to facilitate advanced Research and Development (R&D), and entrepreneurship by some of the UAE’s most important sectors. We work to develop new technology, renewable energy solutions, and adopt the best international practices, including operating systems, mobile computing, and cloud computing virtualisation, distribution systems, software engineering, Internet of Things (IoT), robotic technology, Open Data and Big Data, to enhance our customer services. DEWA also makes use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to assist in its energy and water operations. DEWA has been building sustainable systems that adopt technological innovation to improve the efficiency of its electricity and water infrastructure according to the highest international standards, which helps create an advanced competitive economy,” said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer noted that DEWA has surpassed leading European and American companies by reducing losses in power transmission and distribution networks to 3.3%, compared to 6-7% in Europe and the USA. Water network losses decreased to 8.2%, compared to 15% in North America, achieving leading global results in reducing water losses. DEWA’s results are among the best internationally for customer minutes lost per year. DEWA’s figures reached 3.87 minutes in 2015, compared to 15 minutes recorded by leading utilities in the European Union.