Supreme Council of Energy discusses progress on Dubai's energy use at 10th Executive Committee meeting

Dubai, UAE, 23 December 2015: The Executive Committee of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy recently held its 10th meeting at the Council’s headquarters. The meeting was headed by HE Ahmed Buti Al Muhairbi, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Energy, and was attended by Yousef Jebril, Executive Vice President of Power and Water Planning at Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Vice Chairman of the Committee, Abdullah Rafi, Assistant General Manager for Electricity and Water Planning at Dubai Municipality, Faisal Ali Rashid, Director of Demand Side Management at the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Graeme Sims, Executive Director of the Regulatory and Supervisory Bureau for Electricity and Water in Dubai, Mustafa Alyousuf, Member of the Regulatory and Supervisory Bureau for Electricity and Water in Dubai, Stephane Le Gentil, CEO of Etihad ESCO, Samer Khoudeir, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Empower, Shamma Al Rahmah, Manager of Business Planning and Performance Management at Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), Basil Saad, a representive of the Roads and Transport Authority, and Taher Diab, Director of Strategy and Planning at the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy.

“In line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, to enhance sustainable development in Dubai, and in accordance with the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to make Dubai a global hub for clean energy and a green economy, The Executive Committee of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy is committed to enabling Dubai to achieve the lowest carbon footprint in the world,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice-Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy.

“The Demand Side Management Strategy is the first of its kind in the region. it provides new job opportunities for different energy service companies, and other businesses interested in sustainability and efficiency. The strategy has 9 programmes to manage energy demand. These include green building regulations, retrofitting existing buildings, district cooling, wastewater reuse, laws and standards to raise efficiency, energy-efficient street-lighting, and   Shams Dubai initiative to regulate the generation of solar energy in buildings,” added Al Tayer.

“The Committee discussed the progress in collecting data from 100 buildings in Dubai in cooperation with many stakeholders. Through this initiative, we are analyzing the combined use of electricity and water to formulate a roadmap for energy use in Dubai. We also discussed the progress of innovative policy development to speed up the process of the Demand Side Management Strategy. We agreed to form The Green Purchase Committee during the first quarter of 2016 as well. The initiative will organise the purchasing processes for products related to electricity and water for all member companies of the Supreme Council of Energy.”

“We expect to achieve 8-10% savings in energy demand by 2020,” said Al Muhairbi.

The Demand Side Management Strategy was launched by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy in June 2013. The Executive Committee of the Council is responsible for implementing it and supporting its member companies. The energy demand-side management strategy uses enabling mechanisms in line with international best practices and similar programmes implemented globally. These include organisations, capacity-building, public awareness and appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks, information systems and measurement, and suitable funding mechanisms for Dubai.