DEWA (Dubai Water and Electricity Authority – Government of Dubai) has recently announced the creation of the largest solar power plant in the world, located at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, with the aim of ensuring a secure supply of energy from sustainable sources and thus reaching the estimated target of 75% clean energy by 2050.
The “Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050”, a plan developed to reduce land dependency on fossil fuels and accelerate the transition towards green economy, will be developed through a series of intermediate steps with the goal of reaching 7% of renewable sources by 2020 and 25% by 2030.
According to the approved work plan, the first phase of the project will be completed by 2020 and by then the facility is expected to be able to produce approximately 1,000 megawatts. The strategy will also be accompanied by the obligation of the implementation of photovoltaic roofing on residential buildings, as well as the construction of a new free trade zone, the “Dubai Green Zone”, which is intended to attract foreign research centers and companies of the sector. Among the key-elements there will also be the creation of a “Green Investment Fund” of over 27 billion dollars, in order to provide subsidized loans to those who want to invest in the renewable energy sector.
“This is certainly a very ambitious project”, says Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Arabic: الشيخ محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم , Emir of Dubai and current Prime Minister and UAE Vice President), “especially for an area like ours that has always, until today, based its whole economy exclusively on oil and that currently estimates the use of a 5% green energy percentage on the national territory.”
The premises and the plan drawn up in the “Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050” reflect, once again, the determination of the UAE in complying with its commitment, also after the last World Green Economy Summit in Paris, in creating a clean energy model, supporting the economic growth without damaging the environment and the existing natural resources.
(Bologna Office Linda Tontodonati – 0039 (0)51 2750020)
