Clean energy to account for 75% of Dubai power mix by 2050

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Dubai seeks to secure its power supply by diversifying energy mix aimed at providing 75 per cent through clean energy by 2050, the head of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), said on Tuesday.

Addressing an energy industry conference, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa, said meeting Dubai's clean energy objectives requires a capacity of 42,000MW of clean and renewable energy by 2050.

Al Tayer said in order to meet this goal, Dewa established the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar project in the world using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model.

"The solar park's capacity will be 5,000 MW by 2030, with investments totalling Dh50 billion. The solar park will contribute to reducing over 6.5 million tons of carbon emissions per year. This will reduce our carbon footprint and help us achieve the Dubai Carbon Abatement Strategy 2021, which has a target to reduce carbon emissions by 16 per cent by 2021," Al Tayer said in his inaugural speech at the 7th Marsh Energy Industry Conference organised by Marsh, a global leader in insurance broking and risk management.

Dewa has launched three smart initiatives to support transforming Dubai into the smartest and happiest city in the world: The Shams Dubai initiative, to encourage building-owners to install solar photovoltaic panels to produce electricity from solar power and connect them to its grid, he said.

"To date, we have over 800 solar systems with a capacity of 31 MW connected to the grid. The Smart Applications through Smart Meters and Grids initiative contributes to increased efficiency, allowing customers to optimise electricity and water consumption."

He said the Green Charger initiative aims to establish the infrastructure and build electric vehicle charging stations. "We now have 100 charging stations and will have 200 before the end of the year. The smart grid with investments of Dh7 billion, is a key element in Dewa's strategy to develop an advanced infrastructure to support Dubai becoming a smart and happy city."

In 2017, Dewa recorded 2.68 Customer Minutes Lost (CML), compared to 15 minutes recorded by leading utilities in Europe and USA. Losses in power transmission and distribution networks were reduced to 3.3 per cent, compared to 6-7 per cent in Europe and the USA. Water network losses (Unaccounted for water) decreased to 7.1 per cent, compared to 15 per cent in North America. Fuel consumption efficiency reached about 90 per cent. By 2030, Dewa intends to have 100 per cent of its desalinated water production to come from a mix of clean energy that uses both renewable energy and waste heat, Al Tayer said.

"Innovation is a part of Dewa's DNA and throughout the years, Dewa's efforts in creating innovative solutions have culminated in great results, saving both time and effort. We are keeping pace with the 4th Industrial Revolution, and adopting Artificial Intelligence(AI), robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to support the Dubai 10X initiative, which is set to propel Dubai towards the future, for a better future for generations to come," Al Tayer said.