Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) along with the International Renewable Energy Authority (IRENA) hosted a joint workshop on accelerating residential solar in UAE at Raffles Dubai on November 8 this year.
Mohamed El-Farnawany, director of strategic management and execution direction at IRENA, said that the cost of renewables in the global market is the same, if not lower, than fossil fuels. “Renewables are becoming one of the most cost-effective source of electricity around the world. It is also economically attractive in this country, and according to IRENA’s latest joint work in the UAE, the deployment of 10% share of renewable energy in the total energy mix could generate annual savings of $1.9bn by 2030.”
Saeed Al Tayer, CEO of DEWA, said that through these initiative DEWA also aims to educate its customers about Shams Dubai launched earlier this year.
As renewables climbs the global agenda, Tayer said that it is time to acknowledge it. “Dubai’s green initiative recognises renewable energy as energy of the future.”
The workshop discussed the potential of residential and distributed solar in the UAE. It included a cost session presented by PV installer, a presentation on policies and subsidies and its capability to accelerate the solar movement, and discussion about possible actions and recommendations.