DEWA Enhances Energy and Water Infrastructure in preparation for Expo 2020

Dubai - MENA Herald: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) supports the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as does the UAE in its preparations to host the best World Expo that the world has ever been seen in Dubai. This will also achieve the Dubai Plan 2021 to make Dubai a smart, integrated and connected city that has a high-tech infrastructure that supports social and economic development to be on a par with the best cities in the world.
DEWA focuses its efforts on setting up an excellent energy infrastructure that meets the Emirate’s development needs. DEWA has launched a wide variety of initiatives to support this, allocating over AED 2.6 billion to boost electricity, water, and renewable energy projects according to the highest international standards.
This supports Dubai Expo’s theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and its three sub-themes of sustainability, mobility and opportunity.
Budget for Clean-Energy-Related Projects
To emphasise its commitment to sustainability, which is one of the main pillars of World Expo 2020 in Dubai, DEWA has also assigned a large part of the budget to clean-energy-related projects in support of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to provide 75% of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy by 2050. This will make Dubai’s carbon footprint the lowest in the world. Most prominent of these projects is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park and the Shams Dubai project to encourage building owners to install photovoltaic panels to generate electricity from solar energy and connect it to DEWA’s grid. DEWA has also budgeted for research and development, and research and innovation in renewable energy. All these will promote sustainable development in the UAE.
DEWA operates the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, one of the largest single-site renewable energy projects in the world. The Park will have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts by 2020 and 5,000 megawatts by 2030. The project will provide a dedicated supply of 100 megawatts (MW) to Dubai Expo 2020 to manage its energy requirements.
The project supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy to provide 7% of Dubai’s energy from clean sources by 2020. It will increase this target to 25% by 2030 and 75% by 2050.
The solar park will reduce 6.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2030, and support the green initiatives and programmes implemented by the Government of Dubai to reduce carbon emissions.
The Hassyan Clean Coal Power Plant is another pioneering project implemented by DEWA based on the IPP model. With a production capacity of 1,200MW, the first phase will be operational by 2020. DEWA and Siemens signed a contract to expand DEWA’s M-Station electricity and water desalination plant.
The new plant will add a further 700MW to the installed generating capacity of M-Station at Jebel Ali, boosting its capacity to 2,760MW when the project is completed in 2018. DEWA works tirelessly to enhance its installed capacity, which is currently 9,656MW of electricity and 470 million imperial gallons of desalinated water per day, to meet the Emirate’s current water and energy demand.
Smart Initiatives to Improve All Aspects of Expo 2020
DEWA is contributing to the development of all Expo 2020 facilities and services through its smart initiatives. DEWA has assigned part of the budget to support our leadership's drive to promote initiatives in smart services to make Dubai the smartest city in the world, in line with the Smart Dubai initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. DEWA is one of the leading government organisations in terms of adopting and launching smart initiatives and services. In 2014, it fully transformed its services into smart services, with various applications and channels to reach its customers smoothly and in accordance with a crystal-clear strategy to implement state-of-the-art technologies and developments for smart governments and smart cities.
DEWA is supporting the Smart Dubai initiative, with Shams Dubai contributing power from solar arrays installed on Expo 2020’s buildings. The Expo will also have three different types of electric vehicle charging stations from the Green Charger initiative. DEWA is setting up three types of charging stations: Fast-charging stations that take 20-40 minutes. Medium-charging stations take 2-4 hours, with home charging stations that take 6-8 hours to charge.
As part of the Smart Applications and Smart Meters initiative’s, DEWA is building a smart grid that is set to be the first network in the world to cover generation, transmission, and distribution systems to customers. The smart grid includes demand-side management, asset management, distribution automation, substation automation, system integration, and smart meters.
DEWA has allocated AED 7 billion worth of investments to the development of smart grids. This will contribute to achieving the Smart Dubai initiative, and DEWA’s Shams Dubai initiative to generate electricity from solar power in buildings, and connect them to DEWA's grid, as well as other infrastructure and electric vehicle charging stations.
DEWA’s position and active contribution to Organising the World Expo 2020
HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA highlighted DEWA’s preeminent international position as an exemplary utility company underlining its ability to provide excellent services to host Dubai Expo 2020. DEWA is establishing the required infrastructure to provide electricity and water to over 25 million expected visitors and meet the needs of the mega infrastructure projects being executed in preparation for hosting this major international event.
“DEWA will persist in its quest for success through the comprehensive development of its operations to achieve excellence by adopting global best practices. DEWA is a leading, world-class utility service provider that has several drivers to make it an active contributor to organising the best World Expo in Dubai,” said Al Tayer.
“The 2016 budget includes a number of key projects, including AED 2.957 billion in generation, AED 3.416 billion in power transmission, AED 1.209 billion in power distribution, and AED 1.042 billion in water and civil works , in addition to other projects for a total of AED 95 million.
Other projects include building 9 new 132kV substations at a cost of AED 775 million. AED 1.544 billion has been allocated to the extension of 256 km of 132kV cables, and other power transmission and distribution projects and smart communication networks. To increase water storage capacity at DEWA, AED 245 million will be budgeted to build two water reservoirs at Al Nakhly, and a further AED 50 million to build a water pumping station on the Dubai-Al Ain road, as well as other water transmission and distribution projects,” said Al Tayer.
“DEWA's operational budget for 2016 is AED 14.165 billion compared with AED 13.465 billion in 2015, while the administrative capital budget is AED 770 million,” Al Tayer concluded.