Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) slashed the cost of solar power by 85 percent while doubling efficiency over the past 10 years, the DFM-listed utility’s MD and CEO said.

“During the past decade, the cost of solar energy in DEWA’s projects decreased from 11 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to just 1.69 cents, while efficiency doubled from 11 percent to about 24 percent,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer while delivering a keynote speech at World Government Summit 2024 in Dubai on Tuesday.

DEWA's journey into solar power began in 2013 with the launch of the 13 megawatt (MW) first phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. As of 31 December 2023, the solar park’s total installed capacity is 2,627MW.

Al-Tayer also highlighted other green projects undertaken by the utility including green hydrogen production project at the solar park and pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta.  

“Several years ago, we stopped launching any new fossil-fuel energy projects. We have also restricted new water desalination projects to reverse osmosis technology using clean energy,” he disclosed.

DEWA’s 180 Million Imperial Gallons Per day (MIGD) Hassyan Phase 1 Independent Water Producer (IWP) project, with an investment of over 3.3 billion UAE dirhams, is slated to become the world’s largest solar energy-powered desalination plant.

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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