Signing of the MoU, witnessed by French ambassador to the UAE, Michel Miraillet (standing, right). Image: DEWA.
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has signed a cooperation agreement with the renewables arm of major French utility EDF to share expertise and experience in areas including energy storage, renewables, EV chargers and energy system integration.
Witnessed by the ambassador of France to the UAE, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at the World Future Energy Summit event taking place this week in Abu Dhabi between EDF’s senior executive vice president of renewable energies Antoine Cahuzac and Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, who is CEO and president of utility and government agency DEWA.
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According to a DEWA statement, the signing of the MoU will support the Dubai utility’s efforts to “build strategic partnerships that employ regional and international capabilities to drive sustainable development, tackle climate change, and enhance energy efficiency”.
The pair will work together on research and development (R&D) in energy system integration, energy storage, renewable energy, distributed energy resources, demand response, energy resilience, disaster recovery, EV charging stations and laboratory infrastructure development.
Dubai has in place its own Clean Energy Strategy 2050, aiming for 75% renewables in its energy mix by that year. DEWA last year signed what is thought to be the world’s lowest priced solar PPA for an 800MW project in Dubai at less than three cents a kilowatt hour.
“We strive to enhance cooperation in R&D, and exchange expertise in areas of mutual interest. This will contribute to innovating analytical methodologies, and improving tools to develop innovative solutions to increase energy efficiency and further promote renewable energy use,” Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer said.
“This in turn, will contribute to achieving the sustainable development and protect natural resources for generations to come.”
