Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) | MD & CEO highlights DEWA’s latest innovative initiatives and projects to enhance efficiency and sustainability at World Government Summit

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), delivered a speech on ‘Innovative Electricity and Water Generation Projects to Improve Efficiency’ at the 5th World Government Summit, which is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Al Tayer talked about DEWA’s preemptive plans to anticipate the future with its key initiatives and innovative projects to improve the efficiency of electricity and water generation. DEWA is the Sustainable Energy Partner of the summit, on 12 to 14 February 2017, with the theme ‘Shaping Future Governments.’

“I am pleased to be here today at the World Government Summit, held under the theme ‘Shaping Future Governments’. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority is the sustainable energy partner of the summit. Energy plays a vital role in the life of every individual, and is a pivotal challenge faced by the world today. Energy affects every aspect of life, including, job opportunities, security, climate change, the diversity of income, and, of course, sustainable development. According to the State of the Future report, launched earlier this year by the Dubai Future Academy in Davos, Switzerland, there are 1.3 billion people without electricity, while the world is trying to combat the effects of 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. These contribute to the Earth’s increasing temperature, resulting in global warming,” said Al Tayer.

“These issues are key discussion points among world governments to ensure energy security and sustainability, to make it affordable to everyone and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals to provide safe, sustainable, and affordable energy for all. The UAE has pioneered the implementation of strategies to make renewable energy the largest share of its energy mix, and improving energy efficiency and demand side management. This is a result of the forward-thinking vision of the wise leadership, led by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, considering that the UAE is one of the largest oil-producing countries in the world. I would like to mention the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who once observed that, “The future is not something we wait for, but something we make.” I would also like to echo the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, about the UAE making early preparations to bid farewell to the last drop of oil. Our wise leadership believes that the implementation of our future policies will depend on the development of creative ideas and innovative solutions by the people of the UAE, who are the nation’s true wealth. This vision reflects a well-defined government approach to meet the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and develop an effective future government. Rapid developments in innovation such as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Robots, are also integrated and closely connected with sustainable development,” added Al Tayer.

“Today, our country proudly celebrates world-class achievements and continues to maintain the global pace of proactive innovation to achieve social happiness, in adherence with the UAE Vision 2021 and the Dubai Plan 2021. In Dubai, we have adopted a holistic vision for the energy sector, covering issues such as energy security, energy efficiency, sustainability and its rational use. This will contribute to achieving the objectives set by the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to increase the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix to 50% by 2050. The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 aims to provide 7% of Dubai’s energy from clean energy sources by 2020. This target will increase to 25% by 2030, and to 75% by 2050. This will transform Dubai into an international hub for clean energy and green economy, and make it the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world. We are working to achieve the Demand Side Management Strategy, to reduce energy and water demand by 30% by 2030, and the Carbon Abatement Strategy to reduce carbon emissions by 16% by 2021. The UAE’s interest in producing renewable energy has contributed to the decline of its global cost. Renewable energy is growing cheaper to produce, with bid prices for solar and wind power projects in Europe and the Middle East dropping to levels comparable with coal-fired thermal power, according to a recent Japanese study published by the Nikkei Asian Review,” noted Al Tayer.

The United Nations has defined sustainable development as the ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ Dubai realises the importance of the balance between the shift to renewable and alternative energy and meeting the current and future needs for energy. We are innovating new and effective ways and techniques to enhance the security and efficiency of the energy sector. Over the past few years, Dubai has managed to reinforce its global position through leading projects, initiatives and plans in clean energy. Today, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has surpassed its counterparts from international organisations, with its extensive record of achievements and excellent performance indicators and results. In 2016, DEWA scored 3.28 customer minutes lost per year, compared to 15 minutes recorded by leading utilities in Europe and the USA. Losses in power transmission and distribution networks reduced to 3.3%, compared to 6-7% in Europe and the USA. Losses in water transmission and distribution networks decreased from 42% in 1988 to 8% in 2016, one of the lowest recorded rates in the world. The efficiency of fuel consumption in generation has reached a world record level of 90%. We are moving forward with the implementation 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. Upon completion, it will be capable of providing 25% of Dubai’s total power output by 2030, with a total capacity of 5,000MW. This will contribute to the reduction of over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually,” he added.

“We are immensely proud of our local and international achievements. Our efforts shall not end here. I am pleased to announce a number of major innovative electricity and water generation projects to improve efficiency that will make cumulative savings of up to AED 60 billion in Dubai and will also contribute to reducing carbon emissions by 201 million tonnes by 2030,” said Al Tayer.

“We are currently desalinating water in Dubai through the Combined Cycle Co-Generation, which is efficient and depends on using waste heat created by the production of electricity for water desalination. It produces 67% of the water without burning extra fuel. DEWA adopts a clear strategy to ensure that by 2030, 100% of desalinated water will be produced by a mix of clean energy that uses both renewable energy and waste heat. This will allow Dubai to exceed global targets for using clean energy to desalinate water. To ensure continuous improvement, DEWA conducted a study to improve water production, and analyse the economic and technical feasibility of replacing Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) desalination technology with solar-powered Reverse Osmosis (RO) to produce water using cheap and clean energy. By 2030, Reverse Osmosis will help expand our production capacity to 305 million gallons of desalinated water per day. This means reverse osmosis will produce 41% compared to its current share of 5%. So we will be able to produce 750 million gallons of desalinated water per day by 2030, compared to our current capacity of 470 million gallons per day. The increase in operational efficiency created by separating electricity generation and water desalination will lead to savings of up to 13 billion dirhams between now and 2030,” he said.

“Over the past three years, DEWA has launched an innovative initiative involving a geophysical and hydro-geological field study and digging exploration and monitoring wells to study the possibility of injecting and storing desalinated water from solar-powered reverse osmosis plants into a subterranean water basins and being able to pump it back into the water network when needed. The project is based on the latest innovative technologies to achieve operational efficiency in the water network. Studies have shown that it is possible to store 5,100 million gallons of water that can be retrieved when needed. This will achieve savings of up to AED 9 billion by 2030, which is more cost-effective than the conventional way of storing water in concrete reservoirs. This will provide the Emirate with a strategic reserve of 50 million gallons of water per day for 75 days in case of emergency, while ensuring the quality of the stored water remains unaffected by external factors. These two integrated initiatives have managed to raise the level of efficiency and effectiveness in the production of water by adopting the latest techniques to achieve sustainable development, and have also achieved substantial savings without affecting the quantity or the quality of the water. Savings will amount to AED 22 billion (USD 6 billion) by 2030. These initiatives will help make use of the considerable electricity generated by solar power,” added Al Tayer.

“To support these initiatives and continue developing the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations, we are carrying out the initiatives of the wise leadership, such as the UAE Post-Oil Strategy, the Green Economy for Sustainable Development initiative and the UAE National Innovation Strategy. To keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the latest disruptive technologies, DEWA adopts the best international research and development (R&D) practices for the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity and water services, that are world-class, enhance living standards, and achieve the happiness of society. We are currently working to establish an R&D centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, with a total investment of AED 500 million up to 2020. The work of the centre revolves around four main areas of operation, which include the production of electricity from solar energy, smart grid integration, energy efficiency, and water. The centre’s internal laboratories will include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 3D printing, power electronics and energy efficiency, software lab, and the electrical and mechanical labs. We will also have external laboratories to test pilot projects and prototypes, conduct field tests on new equipment and technologies, with a focus on removing dust from solar panels, to efficiently produce clean energy while reducing costs. The innovation centre also works to develop the nation’s skills in energy, and promote competitiveness using incubators to develop new renewable energy technologies,” said Al Tayer.

“DEWA is diversifying its energy resources and increasing its use of clean and renewable energy by constructing a hydroelectric power station. This will use the existing water stored in the Hatta Dam, and this is one of a number of projects that will be ready within five years. The project will be the first of its kind in the GCC, with a total generation capacity of 250MW, and is expected to last between 60 to 80 years. I am confident that the World Government Summit will have an effective role in shaping the future of the energy sector. In the UAE, we’re prepared for these changes, depending on innovation, adopting disruptive technologies, and preparing an Emirati generation who are capable of keeping pace with the future,” concluded Al Tayer.