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19 March 2024

Hamdan bin Rashid inaugurates 21st WETEX, 4th Dubai Solar Show

Photo: WAM

Published
By WAM

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, and President of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, today inaugurated the 21st Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition, WETEX 2019, and the 4th Dubai Solar Show.

DEWA is organising the two exhibitions under the umbrella of the 6th Green Week from 21st to 23rd October, 2019, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, with 2,350 exhibitors from 55 countries.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid was welcomed by Matar Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman of DEWA; Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD&CEO of DEWA and Founder and Chairman of WETEX; and other DEWA Board Members.

Also present at the opening ceremony of WETEX 2019 were Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment; and officials from the public and private sectors.

Following the opening ceremony, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum; Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, and other VIPs, toured the exhibition and were briefed about various innovations, solutions and new products such as energy and water desalination, green technologies, clean and renewable energy, environmental sustainability, and oil and gas.

Sheikh Hamdan inspected the DEWA pavilion. He then launched the Intelligent Gas Turbines Controller that DEWA developed in collaboration with Siemens, to control gas turbines at energy production plants. It is the first of its kind in the world.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer briefed Sheikh Hamdan about various DEWA projects, including the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the world's largest single-site strategic renewable energy generation project based on the independent power producer,IPP, model. This will have a 5,000 megawatt capacity by 2030, at an investment of AED 50 billion. In cooperation with Dubai Expo 2020 and Siemens, DEWA is implementing the first green hydrogen project in the Middle East and North Africa, where the hydrogen produced will be stored and used for different purposes.

H.H. was briefed about the Smart Response Initiative for technical reports on electricity and water consumption. This allows customers to self-diagnose technical faults inside homes and reduce the number of steps involved by resolving it directly through the DEWA smart application and its website. This is increasing the experience of customers and improving services efficiency.

He was also was briefed on some of DEWA’s most prominent projects such as the Smart Grid Station,SGS, which combines the concept of networks and smart homes. A model of the new DEWA headquarters, the Al Shera’a building, which will be the tallest, largest and smartest public net Zero Energy Building,ZEB, is also on display. There will also be model of the Hatta hydroelectricity power station, the first of its kind in the region, which will have a 250MW capacity.

At WETEX 2019, DEWA is displaying its Shams Dubai initiative that encourages building owners to install solar photovoltaic panels to produce clean energy and connect it to the grid, with 1,355 buildings connected to the grid with a total capacity of 13 MW by October 2019, in addition to its Green Charger initiative that establishes the infrastructure and charging stations for electric vehicles. DEWA has completed the installation of 200 stations throughout Dubai.

Sheikh Hamdan also visited group of national and international pavilions, including the pavilion of the People's Republic of China, which hosts the largest number of Chinese companies specialised in water, energy and environment. Almost 110 Chinese companies are participating in WETEX and DSS. The Italian pavilion includes 22 companies. His Highness then visited the ENOC, Masdar, ACWA Power from Saudi Arabia, Siemens, ABB, Dubai Expo 2020, Empower, MORO, Ducab, the stands of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Municipality, Etihad ESCO, and other stands.

WETEX has become the largest exhibition of its kind in the region and one of the largest specialised exhibitions in the world. It is an annual event for companies and organisations from the energy, water, environment, oil, gas, green development and related sectors from the region and the world to display their solutions and products while also discussing the latest technologies and innovations. WETEX 2019, under the theme 'At the forefront of sustainability,’ is the largest version since its launch, it covers an area of 85,000 square metres.