Dubai aims to produce 75% energy using clean sources: Al Tayer

Dubai’s practices in energy efficiency and water desalination was showcased during the panel discussion held at the 21st session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 21) in Paris.

The discussion was organised during the launch of ‘Global Clean Water Desalination Alliance – H20 minus CO2 – and held in presence of Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change; Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice-Chairman of Dubai Supreme Council of Energy in Dubai; and Managing Director and CEO of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.

Al Tayer said:  "Recently, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai launched the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, through which Dubai aims to produce 75 per cent of its energy using clean sources.
The strategy focuses on five key pillars, including infrastructure, legislation, green fund, skills and knowledge and environmentally friendly energy mix for both electricity and water. By 2030, we should be able to produce an environment-friendly energy mix , 25 per cent  from solar, 7 per cent from clean coal, 7 per cent from nuclear and 61 per cent from natural gas.”

"In Dubai our production capacity 470 MIG per day of desalinated water. This summer we reached a peak load of 350 MIG per day and out of this 20 million is produced using Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology.
"Also in Dubai most of the plants are using multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) technology, and only 6 per cent use RO technology. So 70 per cent of our production is from the waste heat and it is fuel free. This means that its carbon footprint is zero. Also we combine water and power to improve efficiency while reducing capital and operating costs as it is," he added.

"It is not feasible to retrofit the existing plants by PV or solar panels. So to reduce carbon emissions in the future, these MSF plants needs to be connected to a central solar plant.
"Our future strategy consists of building ROs to meet water demand since they require only 30-40 per cent of energy required for MSF (which Energy intensive technology). Our carbon abatement strategy focuses on reducing carbon emissions by 16 per cent by 2021, Dewa contributes by more than 50 per cent of this target.  These targets will be reviewed in the light of the newly declared Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050," Al Tayer said at the discussion.

Others on the panel included Ahmed Belhoul, CEO-Masdar; Paddy Padmanathan, CEO - ACWA Power; Jean-Louis Chaussade, CEO-SUEZ Environnement; Rapahel Schoentgen, VP-Research-ENGIE; and Andrea Watson, Head of Strategy and Integrated Applications – National Renewable Energy Laboratory in US.

The panel discussion was moderated by Jean-Louis Bal, President ‘Syndicat des Energies Renouvelables’.

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