Business Bureau, Gulf Today

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has achieved a world record by receiving the lowest bid of $1.6953 cents per kilowatt hour (kW/h) for the 900MW 5th phase of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park for using photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. This phase will become operational in stages starting in Q2 of 2021.

“For the fifth time, Dewa has achieved a world record in getting the lowest price for PV solar power projects based on the IPP model. This shows the priority our wise leadership gives to clean and renewable energy projects, which has contributed to its global cost reduction. The projects at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world, are of great interest to international developers and reaffirms investor confidence in the major projects that are supported by the Government of Dubai. Dewa has attracted huge investments to the UAE from the private sector and foreign banks, leading to increased cash flow to the economy of Dubai and the UAE,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa.

“Achieving the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to provide 75 per cent of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy by 2050, requires a capacity of 42,000MW of clean and renewable energy by 2050. Current total production capacity of solar projects at the solar park is 713MW. Dewa is building three other projects with a total capacity of 1,250MW. The 900MW 5th phase of the solar park will increase the production capacity to 2,863MW,” added Al Tayer.

Al Tayer said that Dewa is committed to completing the phases of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park according to the highest international standards using the latest solar power technologies to enhance the shift towards a green economy by increasing its share of clean and renewable energy. He noted that the solar park would reduce over 6.5 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development & Excellence at Dewa, said that Dewa released the tender for the 5th phase in February 2019, and received 60 Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) from developers to build and operate the 900MW project using PV solar panels, based on the IPP model. After studying the proposals, 9 consortiums and companies qualified, and were invited to send their bids. These bids are being studied and the winning bid will be announced next month.

Earlier Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Alibaba Cloud, the data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. This is part of Dewa’s ongoing efforts to enhance its digital services. According to the MoU, the two sides will cooperate in presenting the challenges related to algorithms, Quantum Computing, Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing through Alibaba Cloud’s Tianchi innovation platform. The two sides will also collaborate in organising workshops, training courses and conferences to enhance the digital services provided by Dewa to its customers and stakeholders.

The MoU was signed by Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future at Dewa, and Daniel Jiang, International Chief Solution Director of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. The signing ceremony was attended by officials from both sides during Dewa’s participation in Gitex Technology Week 2019.

“We always strive to enhance customers’ experiences by providing digital services supported by state-of-the-art systems. This supports the Smart Dubai initiative, which aims to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world. We work closely with many local and international organisations to transform Dubai into a global hub for disruptive technologies and keeping pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This helps achieve the UAE Centennial 2071, the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, which supports the UAE Government’s goal of adopting future technologies to serve people,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dewa.

“At Dewa, we support the Dubai 10X initiative, which aims to develop Dubai Government’s services, putting Dubai 10 years ahead of other global cities through innovation disruptive technologies. Through Digital Dewa, our digital arm, we are redefining the concept of a utility to create a new digital future for Dubai. Through this initiative, we are working to become the world’s first digital utility to use autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage, while expanding our use of AI and digital services,” added Al Tayer.

“We are really honoured to cooperate with Dewa. By leveraging the Tianchi contest programme, a big data intelligence platform that brings together over 300,000 global data experts, we can bring huge value to Dewa and contribute to the digitalisation of the energy sector,” said Jiang.

Bin Haidar noted that the collaboration with Alibaba Cloud through Tianchi platform supports Dewa’s efforts to encourage and motivate innovators from around the world to take part in scientific and engineering competitions to present innovative solutions to future challenges. This supports Dewa’s efforts to anticipate and shape the future of energy and water.