Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum presents award to some of the winners.

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

Winners of the 13th Conservation Award were honoured in a ceremony attended by a large number of dignitaries.

The award achieved unprecedented savings in electricity and water use with 459 government and private schools taking part, involving 27,732 students.

The award contributed to saving 34.2 gigawatt hours of electricity, and 188 million imperial gallons of water, which reduced 19,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to financial savings of Dhs24 million. Dewa presented the winners with a total of Dhs400,000 in prizes.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, and Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) conferred the awards among the winners.

Dewa organised the award under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

The Conservation Award celebrates educational institutions that implement best practices in saving electricity and water as well as individual achievements in the educational sector.

The ceremony was attended by Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment; Ahmed Bin Shafar, CEO of Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower); Major General Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Bin Fahd, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of Academic Affairs And Training at Dubai Police; Dr Eesa  Bastaki, President of the University of Dubai; Professor Abdullah Mohammed Alshamsi, Vice Chancellor of the British University in Dubai; Ghia Al Muhairi, Director of Dubai Educational Zone; Marwan Ahmed Al Shehhi, Director of Compliance at KHDA; and a number of officials and faculty members and directors of educational institutions in Dubai.

In his keynote speech at the ceremony, which was held at Armani hotel, Dubai, Al Tayer thanked the Ministry of Education, KHDA, and the educational institutions that participated in the Conservation Award. He also commended the teachers, administrators and students for their role in achieving these remarkable results.

“The Conservation Award which attracted 459 public and private educational institutions this year, is a role model for constructive cooperation. It supports our shared vision to protect the environment and preserve natural resources, contributing to the sustainable development of the UAE. The Award’s theme ‘Together for a Sustainable Future,’ shows the importance of concerted efforts for achievements as teamwork is the foundation we follow in the UAE. As His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, once said, ‘Working as a team, everybody takes part in building the UAE.’ Working together has supported Dubai’s many key achievements in its progress towards sustainability. Last month, as a result of the fruitful collaboration of Dewa, with its strategic partners: the Executive Council of Dubai, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Police, Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Statistics Centre, and Dubai Health Authority; Dubai achieved a global success by receiving the Platinum Rating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Cities certification from the US Green Building Council. This makes Dubai the first city in the Arab world Mena region to receive this global rating, which measures sustainability performance in 14 metrics covering energy, water, education, health, and safety,” said Al Tayer.

During the ceremony, Dewa honoured the best educational institutions in implementing energy conservation techniques. These included Al Dhahrah School for Basic and Secondary Education, Al Ebdaa Model School, and Our Own High School- Al Warqa’a.

DEWA’s global achievements confirm the success of its effective and sustainable practices in improving energy efficiency on both supply and demand. DEWA succeeded in reducing electricity line losses from 7% to 3.3% and Unaccounted for Water from 42% to 7.1% and these are global benchmarks. Customer Minutes Lost reached 2.68 per year compared with 15 minutes for leading utilities in Europe and the USA.