DEWA discusses ways to strengthen cooperation and exchange experiences with 61 French companies
HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA); in the presence of Axel Baroux, the French Trade & Invest Commissioner and the Regional Director of Business France in the Middle East, inaugurated an online webinar that DEWA organised to introduce 61 French companies; including EDF, ATOS, TotalEnergies, and Amerenco; to the business and investment opportunities that the Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) and Dubai Solar Show (DSS) provides. WETEX and DSS is the largest exhibition in the region in the energy, water, green development, sustainability and related sectors and one of the largest specialised exhibitions worldwide.
DEWA is organising the 25th WETEX and DSS 2023 under the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy. It will be held from November 15 to 17, 2023, at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Waleed Bin Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence at DEWA; Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA; Marwan Bin Haider, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future at DEWA; and Sandra Papet, Head of Industry & Cleantech Department of Business France in the Middle East, also attended the webinar.
In his opening speech, HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer welcomed the participating French companies and institutions, and emphasised DEWA’s keenness to consolidate collaboration and exchange experiences and best practices to achieve mutual benefit for the UAE and France.
“The United Arab Emirates and the Republic of France have formed strong ties that have grown stronger under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Our two nations have established strong historic ties between our two nations based on peace, dialogue, cooperation, and openness, and the UAE and France are keen to support and consolidate these relations for their mutual benefit. French companies and investors in the UAE play an important role in strengthening the bonds of friendship and human and social relations, which positively reflects the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, and achieves common interests. International trade between the UAE and France rose by 49 per cent over the past three years. The trade exchange between the UAE and France grew by 16.8 per cent in 2022, reaching Dhs29.44 billion ($8 billion), compared to Dhs25.2 billion ($6.8 billion) in 2021,” added Al Tayer.
“In line with the vision of our wise leadership, we have a clear strategy and specific goals to increase the share of clean and renewable energy in Dubai’s energy mix. In line with this direction of our government, we have launched pioneering projects and initiatives to diversify clean energy sources. These include different clean and renewable energy sources and technologies such as solar photovoltaic systems, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), green hydrogen production using solar power as a new clean energy source of the future, and pumped-storage hydroelectric power technology. We will continue to work hard to achieve these ambitious goals. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is part of DEWA’s efforts to support the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to achieve 100% production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. Implemented through our Independent Power Producer (IPP) model, the solar park is the largest single-site solar park in the world, with a planned total capacity of 5,000MW by 2030, with an investment of AED 50 billion (USD 13.6 billion). Innovation is the cornerstone of 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 several projects that we are implementing at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. We have developed a green hydrogen pilot project, the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa. We have also prepared the outline of a roadmap for a green hydrogen strategy that will be implemented in phases as part of our efforts to support the implementation of the net-zero by 2050 strategy. For many years now in Dubai, we have stopped launching new projects to produce energy using fossil fuels, and restrict new water desalination projects to reverse osmosis technology using clean energy, in addition to raising fuel efficiency in the main production units to about 90%, competing with the highest international benchmarks. We have already moved away from the conventional engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) model for power and water production projects, to the Independent Power and Water Producer (IPWP) model, which has proven highly beneficial for DEWA. Today, DEWA has a strong world-class infrastructure to meet the ever-increasing demand, support the growth of a green economy and create a competitive advantage for generating clean energy and adopting energy-efficiency technologies,” he continued.
HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer stated that last year was a historic year for DEWA, which went public, closely followed by its majority-owned subsidiary Empower, within just a few months. The record demand of over AED 315 Billion (USD 85.8 billion) and oversubscription of 37 times, reflected not only DEWA’s consistent and robust financial track record but it is also a vote of confidence in the vision and commitment of Dubai’s leadership to creating a green and sustainable future for all.
“In Dubai, we are always interested in exploring advancements in global technology to further broaden our horizons and team up with international partners in energy to deploy their innovative technology and improve our services. In this regard, I am convinced that there is much that companies in France can offer to the UAE and the region. It’s my pleasure to be with you today, hoping our meeting will be fruitful and useful for our friendly countries,” he concluded.
During the webinar, Waleed bin Salman spoke about the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 and the DEWA Energy Strategy, while Dr. Yousef Al Akraf highlighted the projects and business opportunities that WETEX and Dubai Solar Show provide. Marwan Bin Haidar focused on the smart meters services and the green data centre of Data Hub Integrated Solutions LLC (Moro Hub), a subsidiary of Digital DEWA, the digital arm of DEWA. Sandra Papet also delivered a speech at the end of the webinar.