H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA

“Following immense natural resources consumption on Earth, mankind has finally set a new ambitious goal to get his energy needs through renewable resources,” said H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA. This idea, he said, “seemed difficult several decades ago, but it has formed a framework for an integrated industrial sector driven by the needs of survival and preserving a secure future for generations to come”.

Pointing to the dichotomy between fossil fuels and solar energy, Al Tayer said that more the demand for fossil fuels, the higher the price, whilst the more the demand for solar energy, the cheaper the cost. Reaffirming his faith in solar energy, he reiterated that the sun is “an ideal replacement for fossil fuels resources”, and believed that this would be a “visionary smart investment in the long run”.

Pointing out that today, mankind has overcome the technical challenges to fulfill energy requirements through renewable energy resource, Al Tayer underscored that “once again, the Middle East stands out within the globe’s new energy district – the sun,” and added, “Despite the difficulty of shifting reliance from oil to solar energy, the region is still within the ‘belts’ of both oil and sun.”

Asserting that the UAE, as always, was one of the first countries to come up with initiatives, thanks to the vision of its leaders, he said: “The country put huge investments in solar energy, and supported these investments with a series of fully fledged initiatives. These efforts were crowned by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the launch of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to provide 75% of the Emirate’s energy from clean energy by 2050. Dubai and the UAE’s location within the Sunbelt increases the success chances to have significant reliance on renewable energy in the UAE.”

The UAE, under the directives of our government, has taken an early start to bid farewell to the last drop of oil.

Al Tayer highlighted: “The UAE, under the directives of our government, has taken an early start to bid farewell to the last drop of oil. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) took the responsibility to contribute to this promising goal by announcing The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site strategic renewable energy project of its kind in the world, [which] is based on the IPP model. The 13 MW first phase became operational in 2013. The 200 MW second phase of the Solar Park will be operational by 2017, and its capacity will reach 1,000 MW by 2020 and 5,000 MW by 2030.” The project, said Al Tayer, will help achieve a reduction of approximately 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually, supporting Dubai Government’s Green Initiatives and programmes.

Under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed, DEWA leads ambitious initiatives to increase dependability on solar power, Al Tayer said in his article, and gave the example of Shams Dubai, whose avowed objective, among others, is to install solar panels in buildings to produce power and connect it to DEWA’s grid. Al Tayer explained that installation of solar panels on rooftops of buildings and houses through Shams Dubai is a long-term investment, contributing to reducing electricity bills and increasing property values, decreasing the carbon footprint and protecting the environment and its resources for the present and future generations.

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Dubai Solar Show

Dubai Solar Show will be held in conjunction with the 18^th Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) 2016, from October 4 to 6 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, under the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of DEWA.

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Speaking about the Dubai Solar Show, he said: “As the renewable energy industry continues to rapidly grow, DEWA is organising the first Dubai Solar Show, which will be the largest of its kind in the region. It will highlight the latest innovations in the solar energy field, through offering a unique platform to forge partnerships between public and private sectors to develop innovative solutions.”

Al Tayer, enumerating the other salient objectives of the event, added: “Dubai Solar Show will be a key platform for the public and private sectors to make deals, build partnerships, review the latest solar-energy technologies, learn about current and future projects in the region and market needs and explore opportunities to take part in solar-energy projects and programmes.” Organising the show in conjunction with WETEX and the World Green Economy Summit, he said, was a chance to reach thousands of exhibitors, participants, officials, and decision-makers in the UAE, the Arabian Gulf, and the Middle East as a whole.

Extending his invitation to companies and organisations working in solar technologies to take part in the show and explore the various investment opportunities offered by what he termed a “promising sector”, Al Tayer added: “I also invite all segments of the society to visit the exhibition to learn more about the latest solar technologies which aim to achieve our objective of shifting consumers of energy to producers, and maintaining a fine balance between development and environment to preserve the rights of the generations to come to live in a clean, healthy, and safe environment, and to maintain a sustainable future for us, and for generations to come.”