Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) | HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer discusses bilateral cooperation in renewable energy with Minister of Energy, Enterprise, and Sustainable Development in Malta

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), received HE Miriam Dalli, Minister of Energy, Enterprise, and Sustainable Development in Malta and HE Maria Camilleri Calleja, Malta’s ambassador to the UAE to discuss bilateral cooperation in renewable energy, innovation, and sustainability.

Waleed Bin Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development & Excellence and Marwan bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future from DEWA attended the meeting.

Al Tayer welcomed the Maltese delegation and reviewed DEWA’s key projects and initiatives to achieve the wise leadership’s vision and directives. Al Tayer noted that DEWA’s strategy is inspired by the vision and directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to promote sustainability, innovation, and the shift towards a green and sustainable economy.

Al Tayer said that Dubai has a track record of achievements and a clear strategy with targets to increase the use of clean and renewable energy in Dubai’s energy mix. This is part of its efforts to promote Dubai’s position as a global sustainability hub. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, is one of DEWA’s key projects to achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to provide 75% of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. The Solar Park will have a production capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030. DEWA launched pioneering projects and initiatives to diversify clean energy sources. These include all clean and renewable energy technologies in Dubai such as solar photovoltaic systems, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), green hydrogen production using solar power, stored water technology at Hatta hydroelectric power plant using clean energy, and electricity generation from wind power.

Al Tayer briefed HE Miriam Dalli on the Green Hydrogen project which DEWA commissioned at the Solar Park in Dubai. The pilot project is the first of its kind in the MENA region to produce green hydrogen using renewable energy, showing promise as an environmentally friendly energy source produced by water electrolysis. Green hydrogen represents one of the pillars of a sustainable future that depends on accelerating the transition to carbon neutrality to support a green economy. This is by developing the green mobility sector and reducing carbon emissions in different industries.

“DEWA’s total assets reached AED 195 billion. The electricity production capacity has reached 13,200 MW, and the water production capacity has reached 490 MIGD to meet the growing demand for electricity and water in Dubai. DEWA holds shares in companies and organisations that it helped in establishing including Digital DEWA, Data Hub Integrated Solutions (Moro), and the Green Fund, which supports clean energy projects,” said Al Tayer.

“As part of its vision to be a globally leading sustainable innovative corporation, DEWA has made unprecedented achievements locally and globally. The UAE, represented by DEWA, maintained its first global ranking for the third consecutive year, with scores of 100% in all Getting Electricity indicators in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report. DEWA has reduced its customer minutes lost to 1.66 minutes, compared with 15 minutes recorded by leading utilities in the European Union and the USA. DEWA has further reduced its power transmission and distribution network losses to 3.3%, compared to 6-7% in Europe and the USA. DEWA’s water network losses have decreased to 5.1%, compared to 15% in North America, making it one of the lowest in the world. DEWA improved the sustainability of its water and power infrastructure, to increase fuel consumption efficiency up to 90%, and generation efficiency by 33.41% between 2006 and 2020,” added Al Tayer.

The Maltese delegation praised DEWA’s efforts to consolidate Dubai’s journey in sustainable development and leadership in different areas of energy.