DUBAI – H.E Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman, World Green Economy Organization (WGEO) highlighted Dubai’s efforts in addressing the challenges of climate change, in the presence of a large number of VIPs, and officials from the government and private sectors.

In his speech, titled “What we offer to COP 28” on the second day of the World Government Summit 2023, Al Tayer emphasised that the World Government Summit has become a distinguished global event and a comprehensive knowledge platform for anticipating and shaping the future.

He expressed delight that DEWA is the Sustainable Energy Partner of the Summit, which is held under the theme “Shaping Future Governments”.

“With the vision, guidance and unlimited support of the wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the UAE is preparing to host the largest international climate event, which is the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) in Dubai Expo City later this year.

“This edition will build on the results and outcomes of the previous conferences by strengthening work with all parties and partners. The declaration by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed that 2023 is the Year of Sustainability in the UAE with the slogan ‘Today for Tomorrow’ underlines the great importance the wise leadership attaches to achieving a balance between development and environmental sustainability.

“These foundations were laid by the Founding Father the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It is the cornerstone for all social, economic and environmental development plans, making the UAE among the largest countries in the world to invest in clean and renewable energy projects,” Al Tayer said.

Al Tayer explained that the UAE was the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to launch a strategic initiative to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. DEWA is pioneering in sustainability, innovation and future-shaping in all its projects and initiatives to achieve the goals of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100 percent of clean energy by 2050, with a focus on innovation, technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, digital transformation and the circular economy as key enablers for achieving sustainability. DEWA’s strategy is also in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030. DEWA has identified three main levels according to their priority for it.

“As part of our endeavours to support global efforts to combat climate change, the Cabinet approved the UAE joining the Global Alliance for Green Economy, led by the World Green Economy Organisation (WGEO). This Alliance aims to launch programmes, projects and initiatives boosting the green economy, creating a model for sustainable financing and establishing partnerships for developing countries to achieve an effective transition to a green economy.

Innovation is the cornerstone in our work ecosystem. We have established a Research and Development Centre and an Innovation Centre to develop effective solutions to address climate change by reducing carbon emissions. We have launched a number of projects that we are implementing at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model with investments totaling AED50 billion. When completed, the solar park will reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually. Its production capacity of clean energy has reached 2,027 megawatts (MW), increasing the production capacity of clean energy in Dubai to about 14 percent of the total production capacity of electrical energy. The solar park uses the latest technologies of double-sided photovoltaic solar panels, with a single-axis solar tracking system, and clean them using robots, which contributed to raising the efficiency of solar energy from 11 percent previously to about 27 percent today,” Al Tayer added.

Al Tayer said that solar energy is climate-dependent and unavailable at night. There is an urgent need to find ways for solar energy storage, thus allowing energy availability around the clock. This is why, DEWA has launched a number of energy storage initiatives and projects. The fourth phase of the solar park uses the Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology. It will have a capacity of 100MW from the world’s tallest solar power tower at over 260 metres using Molten Salt technology, and 600MW from a parabolic basin complex. The project will have the largest thermal storage capacity in the world of 15 hours.

DEWA is also implementing a 250MW pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta, which is the first of its kind in the Arabian Gulf region. It will use the stored water in Hatta Dam and will have a production capacity of 250 MW and a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt-hours. In light of the importance of green hydrogen in the transition to net-zero, DEWA has implemented the Green Hydrogen project in the solar park. It is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to produce green hydrogen using solar energy. It stores the hydrogen and then converts it back into electrical energy in addition to other uses in the air, land, and sea transport as well as in industry. DEWA is also preparing a roadmap for a Green Hydrogen Strategy that will be implemented in phases. It has also implemented a pilot project in the solar park to store energy using Lithium-Ion and sodium-sulfur batteries.

At the conclusion of Al Tayer’s speech, Rammas, DEWA’s virtual employee, announced that DEWA is working to enrich its services with ChatGPT technology supported by Microsoft. This will make DEWA the first utility globally and the first UAE government entity to use this new technology. This is part of DEWA’s continuous efforts to promote its leadership locally and globally.