Solar panels installed on 222 Dubai buildings
Hundreds of building owners have installed panels on rooftops under utility provider DEWA’s initiative
More than 200 building owners in Dubai have installed rooftop solar panels under a pioneering initiative by the emirate’s utility provider.
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, announced the achievements made by its Shams Dubai initiative as of October 2016, in a statement carried by the UAE state news agency WAM.
Shams Dubai encourages building owners to install photovoltaic, or PV, panels on their rooftops to generate electricity.
A total of 222 buildings in the emirate have installed solar panels as part of the initiative, DEWA said.
The electricity is used onsite and the surplus is exported to DEWA’s grid. An offset between exported and imported electricity units is conducted and the customer account is settled based on this offset, WAM reported.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, said, “DEWA is pleased with interest in installing PV panels as part of the Shams Dubai initiative. This reflects the commitment of all government and private organisations in Dubai, towards achieving the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to transform Dubai into the smartest and happiest city in the world, and to empower, deliver, and promote an efficient, seamless, safe, and impactful city experience for citizens, residents and visitors. The number of projects completed and those in the pipeline, show our commitment towards achieving the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to make Dubai a global centre of clean energy and green economy. Our strategy aims to increase Dubai’s total power output from clean energy sources to 75% by 2050.”
Expressing his happiness with the results achieved by Shams Dubai, Al Tayer said, “As of October 2016, 222 buildings were connected, this includes residential and commercial buildings in Dubai with a capacity of over 6 megawatt. DEWA has enrolled 44 contracting and consultancy companies. A total of 247 engineers have been certified as enrolled electrical and solar photovoltaic consultants and contractors. 70 manufacturers of solar power equipment registered 578 products as eligible for Shams Dubai. DEWA is cooperating with 18 government organisations to install PV panels on 35 government buildings.”
DEWA recently announced the launch of the largest projects of the Shams Dubai initiative launched by DEWA. Construction of the largest distributed solar rooftop project in the Middle East is underway after DP World commissioned the installation of 88,000 rooftop solar panels on its Dubai facilities in Jebel Ali Free Zone and Mina Rashid. Phase one will be completed in 2017.
