Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) is a key Strategic Partner of World Future Energy Summit and International Water Summit

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and its Group of Companies are participating as a key strategic partner of the 2018 World Future Energy Summit and 2018 International Water Summit. The last will be hosted by Masdar at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and will be held from January 15th to 18th, 2018 at the Abu Dhabi Exhibition Center (ADNEC). Through this advanced platform, experts and decision makers will meet and discuss the challenges facing the world in sustaining energy and water resources, which in turn, will reflect the UAE government's keen interest in water and electricity sectors and to build its sustainable future to meet the current and future supply and demand.

In this content, His Excellency, Abdullah Ali Musleh Al Ahbabi, the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), praised the current support from the government to the water and electricity sectors. He also expressed his appreciations to the vision of His Highness, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates, the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the follow-up of His Highness Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the Executive Council in enhancing the development process in ADWEA through water and electricity infrastructure projects. He later emphasized the role of the Authority and its group of companies in promoting Abu Dhabi Government's goal in having sustainable water, electricity and sanitation sectors while ensuring the optimal investment of resources.

Al Ahbabi explained the importance of the Authority's participation in this strategic event to contribute in addressing the challenges that govern the future of water in the region and to review the latest technologies applied by the Authority and its group of companies to make a quantum leap in the way of securing water demand.

His Excellence, Dr. Saif Saleh Al Sayeri, Acting Director General of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), said that the Authority works hard to strengthen its relationships with all its strategic partners in a way that assists the execution of the its vision and future plans. It is also important to know that its participation in the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week will lead in strengthening Abu Dhabi's global standing in the fields of sustainable development, innovation, efficiency and investment in line with Abu Dhabi Vision 2030. Al Sayeri then acknowledged the importance of strategic partnership with Masdar in fostering the Authority's aspirations to be among the top companies in the water and electricity sector by 2020.

Furthermore, Al Sayeri highlighted the Authority and its group of companies responsibility in providing water and electricity services to all Abu Dhabi Emirate and parts of Northern Emirates needs. He represented its commitment to the implementation of the Government's goal towards a sustainable water, electricity and sanitation sector to ensure optimum utilization of the resources by developing the sector and preserve its resources, create suitable job opportunities for the country's citizens, train future leaders, initiate strategic plans and mega projects to meet the increasing demand for water and electricity. ADWEA has managed to lead the efforts for development of services to a level that matches the most advanced international best practices that ranked the sector to be the second largest one in the emirate after the oil sector. The total capacity of it reached 16,922 megawatts of electricity per day and 960 million gallons of water per day, specifically after operating Al Marfaa International station for Water and Electricity.

It is necessary also to know that Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) will announce during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week a call of interest in the world's largest desalination plant that is responsible to produce 200 million gallons of water a day using reverse osmosis technology in Al Taweelah. The announcement includes inviting all alliances and developers to show interest in the execution of this project according to the independent product model applied by the Authority within the privatization program in partnership with the private sector. The Authority will own 60% stake of the project while the private sector developer will own 40%. In order to ensure the supply of potable water in Abu Dhabi Emirate and to support the government initiatives to cut cost in the sector through the use of efficient and competitive reverse osmosis technology to reduce the need to generate electricity in winter from the Combined gas cycle turbines and reduced fuel costs in the sector, where the reverse osmosis technology can desalinate water without the need for operation of the combined production plant. This feature has an economical feature provided by reverse osmosis flexibility to help reduce gas consumption in winter and reduce total cost.

The project includes the development, financing, construction, operation, maintenance and ownership of a seawater desalination plant using reverse osmosis technology with a capacity of 200 million gallons of water per day of production capacity, as well as related infrastructure at Al Taweelah Water and Electricity Complex in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, about 45 km North of Abu Dhabi city.

Moreover, the Authority is currently implementing Noor Abu Dhabi as the world's largest independent solar power plant project that includes the construction, development, financing, operation and maintenance of a photovoltaic solar power plant in Sweihan, about 120 km from Abu Dhabi city, at a total cost of AED 3.2 billion. With a production capacity of about 1177 megawatts, which is double the current production of the largest station in the world, the California solar power station, which currently produces 550 megawatts. The station is expected to start operating the local grid power in the second quarter of 2019, which aims to reduce the need to import gas, to achieve savings in the water and electricity sector as soon as the plant begins production, and to achieve government efforts to diversify energy sources and the use of renewable energy, support the economy of Abu Dhabi Emirate and create employment opportunities for the country's people, especially in the Eastern region of Abu Dhabi Emirate.

In addition, the Authority has recently announced the launch of the commercial operation of Al Marfaa International of the autonomous product manufacturing cycle, as a part of the privatization program of the Authority to ensure the production capacity of water and electricity, according to the technology of reverse osmosis, which contributed to increase the production capacity to 1702 MW of electricity and 52.5 million gallons of desalinated seawater per day (238,665 cubic meters per day).

The Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC) will review a number of pioneering and innovative projects that have been completed during the last year, as well as reviewing projects and agreements in the fields of water, sustainability, rationalization of consumption as well as the effective use of water and electricity to protect natural resources for future generations.

It is also worth noting that the Authority launched in late 2017 and in coordination with the Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Distribution Companies the Water and Electricity Demand Management Program, "Tarsheed", which aims to promote the culture of rationalization among consumer segments, in order to reduce consumption and natural resources conservation to enforce sustainability by increasing consumer awareness about the mechanisms of consumption rationalization and providing  technical advice of electrical and water installations at homes. This program has  a strategic dimension and a long-term impact on customers through the optimal use of household appliances and equipment to ensure efficiency and reduce consumption, and in the medium term as well, by promoting a culture of rationalization, changing the usual consumption pattern, providing operational savings, long-term preservation of the natural resources and the promotion of the optimal use of water and electricity to contribute to the provision of financial resources and environmental sustainability, in line with the directives of the UAE's wise leadership to save the environment and protect the future generations.

Through the Privatization Program, the Authority implements the government's vision of privatizing the sector as a strategic option that results in many benefits including reducing state funding for large projects in the water and electricity sector, upgrading the national economy and providing job opportunities for UAE nationals, where the privatization department identifies, studies and manages privatization projects and supervises their implementation, such as the sale of assets and the establishment of independent production projects to secure supplies according to the future master plan.

As part of the Authority's long-term plan to privatize the water and electricity sector in Abu Dhabi Emirate, the Authority has established investment partnerships with a consortium of international and local alliances to establish independent water and electricity producing companies by offering competitive and transparent tender projects based on the Build Own Operate, (BOO), where public shareholding companies have been established, in which the Authority has entered into partnerships with international investment groups to implement independent product projects. The privatization program has attracted approximately 70 billion dirhams through independent product projects, which in turn led to provide the whole required supply of water and electricity in order not to face any shortages of supply.

-Ends-

Press Release 2018