Dubai, UAE: As part of the UAE’s preparations to host 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), presented DEWA’s key green economy and sustainability programmes, projects and initiatives to GreenTech Business Delegation to the UAE. This is organised and lead by the US Chamber of Commerce. The delegation comprises 75 business leaders from American companies from various sectors, including clean and renewable energy, infrastructure, oil and gas, water, economy, agriculture, and transport.

During the meeting, held at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi, Al Tayer presented DEWA’s efforts to enhance climate action as well as the economic and structural measures implemented by DEWA for the effective transition to a green economy.

HE the Ambassador David Thorne, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, Khush Choksy , Senior Vice President -Middle East Affairs & International Member Relations, US Chamber of Commerce, Steve Lutes - Vice President- Middle East Affairs, US Chamber of Commerce, Marty Durbin, Senior Vice President of Policy and President of the Global Energy Institute, and Andrew Moffat,  Senior Advisor, US Department of State attended the meeting.

Al Tayer welcomed the American delegation, wishing them a fruitful and enjoyable visit. He said that the UAE and the USA enjoy friendly relations and strong strategic ties in all fields. He emphasised DEWA’s interest in maintaining and strengthening these ties for the best interest of both sides.

“This meeting is in line with the UAE's wise leadership's vision and efforts to achieve a comprehensive sustainable green development to ensure a balance between economic growth and sustainability of natural and environmental resources. This has resulted in our country assuming a leading global position in climate action and diversifying energy sources, through massive clean energy projects, and the largest and most efficient solar power plants, in addition to launching the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative, being the first country in the MENA region to commit to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050,” said Al Tayer.

“The UAE has invested more than US$50 billion in clean energy projects in 70 countries including 40 developing nations and announced the UAE-US Partnership to accelerate the transition to Clean Energy. The project will catalyze US$100 billion in the financing, investment, and other support and will deploy 100 gigawatts of clean energy globally. In November this year, the UAE will host the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Expo City Dubai. Our wise leadership wants to make COP28 the most important and successful global environmental conference, set to deliver the first ever global stocktake of the progress the world has made towards the goals of the Paris Agreement,” added Al Tayer.

“DEWA has, for many years, stopped launching new projects to produce energy using fossil fuels and makes clean and renewable energy projects in partnership with the private sector using the Independent Power and Water Producer (IPWP) model. We also restrict our new water desalination projects to the more efficient reverse osmosis technology using clean energy. For several times, we received the world’s lowest levelized cost of solar energy and desalinated water. Our most prominent clean energy project is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar power project in the world, using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, with a total planned capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030. Currently, the Park has 2,327 MW in operation constituting 15.7% of DEWA’s total installed capacity. It includes the world’s largest energy storage capacity of 700 MW of concentrated solar energy for 15 hours,” explained Al Tayer.

“DEWA achieved world-class results that surpass leading European and American companies in terms of efficiency and reliability. In 2022, losses from electricity transmission and distribution networks were reduced to 2.2%, compared to 6-7% in Europe and the USA. Water network losses were also reduced to 4.5%, compared to around 15% in North America. DEWA has also achieved a new world record in electricity Customer Minutes Lost (CML) per year. Dubai recorded 1.19 minutes per customer, compared to around 15 minutes recorded by leading utility companies in the European Union. DEWA has also succeeded in raising fuel consumption efficiency in production units to about 90% to compete with the best international levels,” Al Tayer added.

“You are most welcome to participate in our future projects and initiatives. Dubai has a favorable regulatory framework, safe and attractive business environment for investment. We are always interested in exploring developments in international technology to further broaden our horizons and team up with international partners in energy while helping them to develop their innovative technology to improve our services. In this regard, I am convinced that there is much American business can offer to the UAE and the region,” concluded Al Tayer.

On the side-lines of the meeting, HE Al Tayer met with representatives of major American institutions and companies operating in the renewable and clean energy sector, infrastructure, oil and gas, water, economy, agriculture and transport. The meeting tackled joint cooperation and investment opportunities, promoting the climate agenda and achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

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For more information, please contact:

Khuloud Al Ali / Ribal Dayekh      
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority  
Media@dewa.gov.ae / Ribal.Dayekh@dewa.gov.ae                                                                             

Afaf Abaza / Mohammed Meshal
Hattlan Media
afaf@hattlan.com / mohammed@hattlan.com

For more information, please visit DEWA’s website www.dewa.gov.ae

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