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

Dubai, UAE: Dubai Electricity and Water Supply Authority (DEWA) has announced that the UAE Solar Programme of Activities (PoA) has been approved by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Board. The PoA, the announced said, was initiated by DEWA, in collaboration with Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence (DCCE), to promote the development of solar power in the United Arab Emirates and make it easier to register projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The CDM Executive Board, the announcement revealed, has approved the request for registration, and the PoA will be registered as a CDM PoA after taking into consideration comments and suggestions received through public consultations up to July 5, 2016. The accreditation means that any solar energy project in the United Arab Emirates can register to be a part of the programme, added the announcement.

The small-scale PoA, the announcement highlighted, will facilitate the finance of projects and environmental programmes by certifying emission reductions by owners and developers of solar projects in the country, based on the UNFCC’s mechanism. The PoA, the announcement added, will also officially support Shams Dubai, which is one of the nine programmes to drive sustainability that is part of the Demand Side Management Strategy launched by the Supreme Council of Energy.

The utility also mentioned that the solar photovoltaic 2MW project at the Dubai International Humanitarian City has been confirmed as the first CDM Project Activity (CPA) under the PoA.

“We are pleased to have the support of the United Nations to implement the ambitions of Dubai as a whole,” said H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and MD and CEO of DEWA.

He further said: “The Clean Development Mechanism is the first global, environmental investment and offset scheme of its kind. The CDM allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission-reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide. These CERs can be traded and sold in international specialised markets. The UAE’s small-scale PoA is a voluntary step by DEWA that coordinates and implements projects that reduce emissions. Shams Dubai will help participants to earn carbon credits equal to the emissions reduced by their respective projects.”

Waleed Salman, Chairman of Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, added, “As an enabler of change towards a Green Economy, the role of the PoA is to standardise and facilitate the maturity of carbon abatement processes and services in our everyday activities, and further strengthen public-private partnerships even more than today.”

DEWA informed that Dubai’s target for 2020 is to produce seven percent of the Emirate’s total power output from solar power, and added that on completion of the first three phases of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the solar park will generate 1,000MW by 2020 using photovoltaic technologies.