The Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority Highlights Dubai's Pioneering Transition to Renewable and Clean Energy Sources

“The UAE has become a role model in the shift to clean and renewable energy. This is in line with the vision and directives of the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces to enhance the green economy in the UAE. Last October, the UAE announced its Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative, becoming the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to launch this strategic initiative. In recognition of its pioneering role in climate action, the UAE has been selected to host the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28) in 2023. In Dubai, we have a clear direction for the energy sector based on the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of the energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. We implement pioneering projects to diversify Dubai’s clean and renewable energy sources to include all available technologies,” said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer explained that DEWA’s strategy to ensure energy security and sustainability includes three main pillars: The first is to produce more clean energy, especially solar energy. One of DEWA’s major projects to achieve this goal is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model in the world with a production capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030. By the end of this year, the share of clean energy capacity in Dubai’s energy mix is expected to reach 13.8%. The second pillar is to decouple the water desalination process from electricity generation, and desalinate water using Reverse Osmosis (RO) and solar energy. We aim to produce 100% of the desalinated water by 2030 using a mix of clean energy and waste heat. The Third is ‘Disrupting the role of utilities by digitisation using the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), UAVs, energy storage, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT), among others.

“The transition to clean and renewable energy is accompanied by several challenges globally. One of the key challenges is renewable energy storage, which can be addressed by developing long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies. A study by McKenzie in November 2021 estimates that by 2040, LDES deployment could result in the avoidance of 1.5 to 2.3 gigatons of CO2 equivalent per year, or around 10 to 15 per cent of today’s power sector emissions. In the United States alone, LDES could reduce the overall cost of achieving a fully decarbonised power sector by around $35 billion annually by 2040,” added Al Tayer.

Al Tayer explained that DEWA works to develop energy storage technologies through pioneering projects, including the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. On its completion, the project will have the largest thermal storage capacity in the world of 15 hours, allowing for energy availability round the clock. It will use three technologies: a parabolic basin complex, a solar power tower, and photovoltaic solar panels. DEWA is also building a 250MW pumped storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta. This is the first of its kind in the Arabian Gulf region. It will have a storage capacity of 1,500 MW hours, and a lifespan of up to 80 years. DEWA, in collaboration with Expo 2020 Dubai and Siemens Energy, inaugurated the Green Hydrogen project, the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to produce hydrogen using solar energy. The plant has been designed to accommodate future applications and testing facilities of hydrogen, including energy storage and green mobility. DEWA also launched a pilot project at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park for energy storage using Lithium-Ion batteries from Tesla, in addition to another pilot project to install and test sodium-sulfur batteries for energy storage.

“In addition to energy storage, big data will play an important role by using sensors in solar power stations to gather real-time data on solar radiation and analyse it in conjunction with data from DEWA’s satellites to improve solar power generation. In this context, DEWA launched its space programme (Space-D) to enhance operational efficiency. In January 2022, we launched DEWA-SAT 1, a 3U nanosatellite. DEWA is the first utility in the world to use nanosatellites in its operations, and we aim to share our pioneering experiences in this field with other utilities. I would also like to note that DEWA provided the first infrastructure for environmentally friendly electric vehicles through the Green Charger initiative, which currently provides over 325 charging stations across Dubai. We are working to increase this number to more than 1,000 by 2025. These achievements are supported by a futuristic vision and long-term plans in addition to high resilience to keep pace with changes and prepare for all developments. To support the directives of the wise leadership to enhance the transition of Dubai into a carbon-neutral economy, we recently switched the Hassyan Power Complex to run on natural gas instead of clean coal. The conversion process went smoothly without any downtime or additional costs,” said Al Tayer.

“Achieving results is based on innovation which we place as a cornerstone of our work across all DEWA’s divisions. As part of Digital DEWA, the digital arm of DEWA, we are disrupting the entire business of public utilities and contributing to building a new digital future for Dubai. Digital DEWA is based on four pillars: launching advanced solar power technologies; deploying a renewable energy grid with innovative energy storage technologies; expanding integrated AI solutions making Dubai the first city to provide electricity and water services using AI technologies and digital services. DEWA’s application of the latest innovative technologies has helped it achieve the best results globally compared to top utilities in Europe and the USA. DEWA improved the sustainability of its power and water infrastructure, increasing fuel consumption efficiency up to 90%, and generation efficiency by 37. 63% between 2006 and 2021, leading to huge financial savings in addition to an expected reduction of 35.35% in carbon emissions by 2030,” said Al Tayer.

“At DEWA, and in line with the vision and directives of the wise leadership, we do not rest on our laurels, but we continue to achieve more to always stay at the top. We are currently working on an ambitious strategy for green hydrogen, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. This year we will also launch a 6U nanosatellite as part of the Space-D programme, and we will continue our efforts in innovation, and research and development, to enhance the efficiency of solar power plants and support Dubai’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. This will contribute to achieving the UAE Centennial to make the UAE the