DUBAI, (Pakistan Point News - 15th Apr, 2019) Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, received at the Authority, a high-level delegation headed by Luigi Di Maio, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Labour of Italy.
The delegation included Manlio Di Stefano, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Liborio Stellino, Ambassador of Italy to the UAE, and representatives of the Italian Trade Agency, the General Confederation of Italian Industry, and financial institutions. Both countries have built an important trade partnership and their relationship dates back to the 1970s, Al Tayer said.
The two parties discussed strengthening the cooperation between DEWA and Italian companies in energy and water projects in Dubai and the UAE. They also discussed strategic cooperation in the water and energy sectors.
Al Tayer emphasised that DEWA’s strategy is in line with the UAE Centennial 2071, the UAE Vision 2021, and the Dubai Plan 2021.
He noted that DEWA currently has an installed capacity of 11,100 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 470 million gallons of water per day. This supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to provide 75 percent of Dubai's total power output from clean energy sources by 2050.
To achieve this, DEWA had launched several renewable programmes and initiatives, including the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world based on the Independent Power Producer, IPP, model, with a production capacity of 5,000MW by 2030 and investments totalling AED50 billion. Once completed, the solar park will reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually and provide thousands of jobs in clean energy and green economy.
Discussions between the two sides also focused on Italy’s participation in the 21st Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition, WETEX 2019, held under the umbrella of the 6th Green Week, and the participation of Italian universities in the Solar Decathlon middle East, SDME.
DEWA’s officials who attended the meeting included Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of business Development and Excellence; Dr Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources; Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future; Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Government Communications; and Abdulnasser Abbas, Senior Director of Treasury.
