Etihad ESCO signs a MOU with GDRFA-Dubai
HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Chairman of Etihad Energy Service Company (ESCO) signed an MoU with HE Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, General Director of General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA). The MoU aims to initiate a feasibility study and inspect all the facilities of the GDRFA in Dubai. The MoU also aims to identify opportunities and strategies to increase energy efficiency that will be developed using the resources, potentialities and tools of the Etihad ESCO. The company will be entrusted with the due diligence phase in developing the project and exploring the possibility of consolidating the set of assignments to evaluate the standards of energy rationalization, based on expected savings or improved efficiencies.
The signing ceremony was attended by Major General Obaid Mehayar Bin Suroor, Deputy Director of (GDRFA), Colonel Ali Bin Ageef, Legal Counsel. Also, the ceremony was attended by Eng. Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President for Strategy and Business Development at DEWA, and Stephane Le Gentil, CEO of Etihad Energy Services Company.
As per the MoU, Etihad ESCO is currently doing audits for 4 buildings and 27 centres of GDRFA. However, this is not a new initiative as GDRFA has been doing awareness campaigns for energy conservation over the past years.
"We work on enhancing Dubai's position as a role model in financing the energy efficiency projects both at regional and global levels pursuant to Directive No. 1 of 2015 issued by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) with the objective of monitoring electricity and water consumption of the governmental facilities in the Emirate of Dubai and in line with Dubai Plan 2021, and the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 that aim to reduce energy demand by 30% by 2030" said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer.
The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy has launched the energy demand management strategy, which includes eight major programs namely, the green building specifications and systems;, retrofitting the existing buildings, central district cooling of districts;, enhancing the standards and efficiency of appliances, equipment and lighting, reusing treated water for irrigation purposes, enhancing the efficiency of street lighting and managing the tariff. The accumulative costs for implementing this strategic ambitious program at the present value are AED 30 billion, while the savings at the present value could reach about AED 82 billion. The net total savings could reach AED 52 billion in addition to economic returns."
