Dubai, February 20 / WAM / Her Excellency Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology, affirmed the endeavor to consolidate and integrate efforts with strategic partners in line with the objectives of the national strategy for industry and advanced technology that support vital and priority economic sectors to enhance the UAE's position as a global destination To lead the industries of the future, especially environmentally friendly ones, to stimulate innovation and to adopt advanced technology in industrial systems and solutions.
This came during her visit to the Research and Development Center and the green hydrogen project within the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Energy Complex in Dubai, during which she met with His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, in the presence of His Excellency Salem Al Qubaisi, Director General of the Emirates Space Agency, and Ibrahim Al Qassem, Director Walid bin Salman, Executive Vice President of the Business Development and Excellence Sector in the Authority, where they discussed ways to enhance joint cooperation to achieve the vision of the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to promote the UAE's transition towards a knowledge-based economy and consolidate its position as a center for advanced science and technology.
Her Excellency expressed her happiness with the qualitative development in the projects and initiatives of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, as well as the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Energy Complex, and the innovations it provides in the field of clean energy, in a manner consistent with the directives of the wise leadership that developed the file of sustainability, diversification of energy sources, and limiting the repercussions of change. The climate is at the top of the list of national priorities, stressing that the clean energy projects at the Research and Development Center, as well as the "green hydrogen" project, have promising capabilities to drive sustainable economic growth and low carbon emissions.
For his part, His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer confirmed that the Research and Development Center is working to support the authority's efforts to overcome the challenges faced by the energy sector when producing electricity from solar and clean energy, which supports the goals of the center to become a global platform for launching promising technologies and enriching the scientific community in Dubai. And the UAE and the world, in addition to refining knowledge and developing the talents and capabilities of Emirati researchers to ensure maintaining the authority’s position at the forefront of global service institutions.
His Excellency explained that DEWA has a clear direction for the energy sector in accordance with the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Carbon Neutral Strategy 2050 for the Emirate of Dubai to provide 100% of energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050; It employs the latest technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and disruptive technologies, including the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and smart grids to enhance energy efficiency and raise the level of happiness of all stakeholders, including customers.
His Excellency said: Thanks to the directives of the wise leadership, the Authority is continuing to expand the use of clean energy and currently has promising projects in solar energy within the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest solar energy complex in the world in one location, with a production capacity of 5,000 megawatts by In 2030, the complex, upon completion, will contribute to reducing more than 6.5 million tons of carbon emissions annually, in addition to the stored water power plant project in the mountainous area adjacent to the Hatta Dam, with a production capacity of 250 megawatts.
His Excellency Al Tayer indicated that the authority contributes to achieving the objectives of the updated plans and targets approved by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy to reduce carbon emissions by 30% by the end of 2030 and support the efforts of the United Arab Emirates to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050.
The center includes several internal and external laboratories to study the performance and reliability of solar panels.. Among the most prominent internal laboratories are the electrical testing laboratory, the mechanical testing laboratory, the materials testing laboratory, the solar radiation simulation laboratory, and the artificial acceleration laboratory for the life span of solar panels.. As for the external laboratories, they include testing solar panel technologies In addition to the laboratory for robots and unmanned aircraft, which contributed to the authority entering the Guinness Book of Records for the first laboratory to be built using 3D printing technology in the world.
During the tour, Al Tayer reviewed the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's space programme, SpaceD, which was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in January 2021 and supports the National Space Strategy 2030, which contributes to achieving the vision of the United Arab Emirates in the field of space industry in various fields. Its sciences, technologies, applications and services.
The program aims to improve the operations, maintenance and planning of the Authority's networks by relying on satellite technologies, the Internet of Things and remote sensing, in addition to qualifying an Emirati cadre specialized in the use of space technologies in electricity and water networks, and confirming Dubai's leadership in benefiting from the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including Internet of things, artificial intelligence and blockchain in the exchange of information through space communications and Earth observation techniques.
As part of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's Space D programme, DEWA proudly launched the nano-satellite "Dewa-Sat 1" in cooperation with the "NanoAvionics" company in January 2022, thus becoming the first service organization in the world to use satellites. nanoparticles in their activities.
A number of projects developed by the Authority's Research and Development Center were reviewed, including a patented innovation to determine the optimal location for concentrated solar energy systems using a drone and a helicopter, which aims to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of these systems, and a system that won two awards from Ideas America to automatically inspect photovoltaic panels using a drone and artificial intelligence algorithms developed by the Center's researchers in addition to a low-cost portable high-accuracy geo-tagging system using GNSS-RTK technology that also won an Ideas America award Another innovation includes solar reflectance measurement on rooftops using an in-house developed autonomous vehicle.
The "Green Hydrogen" project launched by the authority was also visited. It is the first pilot project of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa region to produce green hydrogen using solar energy. It is a promising source of energy and among the environmentally friendly sources. It is produced mainly by electrolysis. Water using renewable energy, as it is one of the pillars of a sustainable future that depends on accelerating the transition to carbon neutrality, reaching a green economy, and reducing carbon emissions in various industries.
The Minister of State for Advanced Technology and the visiting delegation were also briefed on the most important projects, initiatives and programs undertaken by the Authority within the framework of achieving the vision and directives of the wise leadership.