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Dubai, UAE: HH Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Ajman Municipality and Planning Department, accompanied by HE Dr Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and officials from Ajman Municipality and Planning Department, visited the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. They were welcomed by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD&CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). The solar park is the largest single-site solar project in the world. It will generate 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030.
The delegation from Ajman Municipality and Planning Department included Khalid Moeen Al Hosani, Deputy Director General, and several senior officials. The meeting was attended by Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence at DEWA, Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Government Communications at DEWA, Ishaq Al Hammadi, Executive Managing Director of Shuaa 1, and a number of DEWA officials.
Al Tayer welcomed His Highness, Dr Al Zeyoudi, and the guests, highlighting the importance of the visit and DEWA’s intention to enhance joint cooperation with Ajman Municipality and Planning Department and all local and federal government bodies and organisations in the UAE. This helps promote comprehensive sustainable development and the UAE's leadership in sustainability and the transformation towards a green economy that is based on knowledge and innovation.
“Our visit to the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park comes today as part of Ajman Municipality's commitment to learn about the best practices and successful experiences of one of the largest and most distinguished service organisations in the world. DEWA is a leading example of excellence in government work and service provision according to the highest international standards. We are keen to share experiences and learn about DEWA’s efforts in sustainability and achieving comprehensive sustainable development, through ambitious projects and initiatives. These projects have shaped the energy sector in the region, and established Dubai and the UAE’s position in the transition towards a green economy and using clean energy. This supports the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai,” said HH Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi.
“Ajman Municipality and Planning Department keeps pace with the rapid developments that Ajman has achieved in a short period of time, whether in infrastructure or major projects in vital sectors such as roads, energy, urban planning and so on. These projects were implemented according to international standards, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman and Member of the UAE Supreme Council, and the follow up of Crown Prince of Ajman and Chairman of the Executive Council of Ajman.,” added HH Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi.
Al Tayer talked about DEWA’s key projects, initiatives, and programmes that it is implementing in accordance with the directives of the wise leadership to achieve the objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071, the UAE Vision 2021, and the Dubai Plan 2021 to secure a happy and better future for generations to come and raise the UAE’s status to become the best country in the world. DEWA’s extensive efforts resulted in the UAE, represented by DEWA, ranking first globally for getting electricity, as per the World Bank’s Doing Business 2018 report. DEWA also received over 170 prestigious local and international awards over the last three years, for its world-class achievements with its electricity and water networks. DEWA achieved the lowest Customer Minutes Lost per year (CML) score in the world of 2.68 minutes, compared to 15 minutes recorded by leading utilities in the European Union and the USA. DEWA reduced losses in power transmission and distribution networks to 3.3%, and water network losses decreased to 7.1%, compared to 15% in North America. DEWA has succeeded in enhancing the efficiency of fuel use to approximately 90%, while improving production efficiency by 28.87% between 2006 and 2017. DEWA has implemented a number of innovative projects to increase its generation capacity and improve efficiency. These projects have increased generation capacity by 861 MW and achieved capital savings of AED 1.5 billion. Adoption of DEWA’s smart services reached 90%. DEWA recorded a customer happiness score of 97% in 2017 Al Tayer emphasised DEWA’s commitment to achieve the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to increase the share of clean energy to 75% by 2050. The most prominent of these projects is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which will have a generation capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030, with investments totalling AED50 billion. The solar park will contribute to reducing over 6.5 million tons of carbon emissions per year.
Al Tayer reviewed DEWA’s comprehensive approach to the energy sector in Dubai through 3 main pillars. The first is to produce more clean energy, especially solar power. “We have a clear strategy and specific goals. Meeting the clean energy objectives requires a capacity of 42,000MW of clean and renewable energy by 2050. Our goal is to increase the share of clean energy to 75% by 2050 through the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to make Dubai a global model of clean energy and green economy.,” said Al Tayer.
The most prominent of these projects is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which will have a generation capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030. DEWA has an interactive Innovation Centre, a Research and Development centre and a solar-testing centre equipped with the latest renewable and clean energy technologies to promote national capabilities and develop renewable energy technologies. DEWA is keen to use the best global technology in renewable energy.
The 2nd pillar of DEWA’s holistic approach of the energy sector is decoupling water desalination and electricity production using solar power. DEWA intends to have 100% of its desalinated water produced by a mix of clean energy that uses both renewable energy and waste heat. This will allow Dubai to exceed global targets to use clean energy to desalinate water.
Al Tayer noted that the third pillar includes ‘Disrupting the role of utilities by digitisation by using the 4th industrial revolution’s disruptive technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), UAVs, energy storage, blockchain, the Internet of Things and many more. This supports the 10X initiative launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to propel Dubai towards the future, making it 10 years ahead of other global cities through government innovation.
“We have launched Digital DEWA, the digital arm of DEWA, that reimagines the concept of service organisations and creates a new digital future for Dubai. Digital DEWA will enable us to apply a pioneering model for service organisations based on innovation in renewable energy, storing energy, AI and digital services. DEWA aims to shift the status quo of service organisations and transform into the first digital organisation in the world, with self-control systems for storing renewable energy and expanding the use of AI and digital services. DEWA launched its Rammas initiative, which is the first government service that is based on AI and can answer queries in Arabic and English,” noted al Tayer.
Al Tayer talked about the progress of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and its milestones to date. The 13MW first phase of this strategic project became operational in 2013. The 200MW second phase became operational in March 2017. Construction of the 800MW 3rd phase of the solar park started at the beginning of 2017. It will be built on 3 stages. The first 200 MW is expected to be operational next April, followed by the development of 300MW in 2019 and then the last 300MW in the first half of 2020.
Al Tayer pointed out that HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum broke the ground for the 700MW 4th phase of the solar park on 19 March 2018. It is the world’s largest investment project on a single site using Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) that is based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. The project features the world's tallest solar tower, measuring 260 metres, and the world's largest thermal storage capacity, providing clean energy to over 270,000 residences. It will reduce over 1.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually. The project uses two technologies for the production of clean energy, the 1st 600 MW parabolic reflector system and the 100MW concentrated solar power plant, with a total area of 43 square kilometres, with investments of AED 14.2 billion, at the world’s lowest energy cost of USD 7.3 cents per kilowatt hour. DEWA has made progress in the engineering studies for the hydroelectric pumped storage station that will make use of the water stored in the Hatta Dam. The project is the first of its kind in the Arabian Gulf, with a total capacity of 250MW. DEWA also launched the first phase of an initial economic and technical feasibility study on the building of a 400MW pumped hydro storage power station island, with a storage capacity of approximately 2,500MW/h.
HH Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Dr Al Zeyoudi, and Al Tayer witnessed the signing of an MoU by Salman, and Al Hosani, to enhance cooperation between the two sides to exchange knowledge and expertise in sustainability, innovation, access to best practices and initiatives to preserve the environment and achieve the sustainable development goals, and the development of smart infrastructure, including the Shams Dubai initiative, the Smart Applications through smart meters and grids initiative, and the Green Charger initiative. The MoU also includes the exchange of visits and access to best practices in environment and smart services and preparing sustainability reports, cooperation in education and awareness on electricity and water conservation, and mechanisms to calculate and achieve environmental KPIs that support sustainability and production of clean and renewable energy.
The visit also included visiting the 200MW photovoltaic second phase of the solar park, which HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum inaugurated in March 2017. The second phase was implemented by DEWA in partnership with the consortium led by ACWA Power from Saudi Arabia, the main developer, and Spain’s TSK, the main contractor, with an investment of AED 1.2 billion. The phase will generate clean energy for 50,000 residences in Dubai, and will reduce 214,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year. This phase installed 2.3 million photovoltaic solar panels over 4.5 square kilometres.
The visit included the Solar Testing Centre at the solar park, which includes test technologies for photovoltaic panels and for concentrated solar power (CSP) as well. The centre is currently testing over 30 photovoltaic panel types from global manufacturers to check their performance, analyse them, and test their long-term reliability in the local climate. The tests will set a baseline for the development of international specifications, tests and standards for photovoltaic equipment, and tackling the effects of dust soiling photovoltaic panels. The technical testing platforms include a building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) module, a multi-angle test unit for solar panels, a mono-axis solar tracker, and a bi-directional tracer. The results of these tests will enable DEWA to enhance the use of solar technology, and to understand its long-term reliability in the local climate.
The visit was concluded by visiting the desalination plant, which is powered by a photovoltaic array and uses reverse osmosis technology to produce 50 cubic metres of drinking water a day.
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For more information, please contact:
Ribal Dayekh or Iman Saeed
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority
+971 4 307 2006 or +971 4 515 0512
Belkiz Fawzy or Eman Hussein
Hattlan Media
+971 50 714 6677 or +971 50 736 6990
© Press Release 2018
