DEWA discusses strengthening cooperation with International Renewable Energy Agency
- August 6, 2019
- Posted by: Lyn Wilson
- Category: Environmental, Investment and Finance, Water Issues, Middle East
Francesco La Camera, the new Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) met last week to discuss strengthening of cooperation with IRENA.
The meeting was also attended by Dr Nawal Khalifa Al Hosany, UAE’s Permanent Representative to IRENA, and Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence at DEWA.
Al Tayer reviewed DEWA’s latest local and international projects and achievements during the meeting, as well as its role in promoting sustainable development in Dubai. He emphasized how important he believed cooperation between organizations such as DEWA and IRENA was and discussed how essential he considered it was to further develop the areas of renewable and clean energy and sustainability to mutually benefit from shared experiences.
Al Tayer briefed the delegation about DEWA’s plans and how the organization was working to achieve the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 which will see the emirate source 75% of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy by 2050.
Initiatives include the he Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world, uses the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model and will have a capacity of 5,000 megawatts by 2030 with investments that total AED 50 billion.
DEWA’s work has contributed to a significant reduction in carbon emissions in Dubai – net CO 2 emissions in the emirate had decreased significantly by 19% by end of 2018, two years ahead of the Carbon Abatement Strategy 2021 target to reduce the carbon emissions by 16% by 2021.
Other issues covered during the meeting included the achievements of the World Green Economy Organization (WGEO), which is chaired by Al Tayer, launched in Dubai in 2016 in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program.
The WGEO’s aims are to promote the transition to a green economy, deploy green economy projects globally, and support countries and organizations seeking to achieve their green strategy and plans.
WGEO is a co-organizer of the World Green Economy Summit 2019 (WGES) held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President Prime Minister of UAE and The Ruler of Dubai which will take place in Dubai from 20-21 October 2019.
The Summit is organised by WGEO and DEWA in cooperation with Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and WETEX.
WGEO is working with several countries to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.