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A high-level delegation, headed by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), discussed collaboration with France’s Colas Group in Research and Development (R&D) and producing clean energy from photovoltaic cells that are installed on road surfaces. The delegation also discussed developing smart lighting poles in collaboration with France’s Ragni Group. The delegation to France included Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence, Marwan Bin Haider, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future, and Ahmed Abdulla, Senior Manager of External Communications at DEWA.
Al Tayer was received at Colas headquarters in Paris, by Paul-Henri Aumont, Regional Manager for the Middle East, and Pascal Duhoo, Director of Business Development at Colas Group. The two sides discussed collaboration in R&D in photovoltaic panels and working with the R&D Centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. During the meeting, Colas presented Wattway, a Colas innovation developed in collaboration with the French National Energy Institute. These are solar cells installed on road surfaces to transform them into solar roads that produce clean energy.
In Nice, Al Tayer witnessed signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Innogy International Middle East, which was established by DEWA and Europe’s Innogy, and Ragni Group, the leading French lighting company. The MoU aims to design and implement smart lighting poles that combine many innovative features that enhance the transformation towards the smart city. The MoU was signed by Pierre Samaties, CEO of Innogy International Middle East, and Jean-Christophe Ragni, Associate Executive Director of Ragni Lighting.
“In all our projects and initiatives, we are guided by the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai a global model for clean energy and green economy. Dubai is one of the pioneering cities in innovating new techniques and practices to improve energy efficiency and developing alternative solutions for conventional energy. DEWA leads the Fourth Industrial Revolution in renewable energy through the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. We discussed with Colas Group a joint collaboration with the R&D Centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, and reviewed the Wattway technology to produce solar energy from panels that are installed on existing roads. These panels, which are a few millimetres thick, are durable and can endure all types of vehicle loads without being damaged. This innovative technology makes use of the road’s surface, without any need for special engineering work. The technology can be developed further in the future to be used for charging electric vehicles that travel on these roads,” said Al Tayer.
“The MoU with Ragni Group to design and implement smart lighting poles, supports our efforts to provide a smart infrastructure that achieves society happiness. The smart poles that will be produced in the first quarter of 2018, combine multiple innovative features that support smart-city infrastructure according to the highest international standards. These features support smart and green mobility, autonomous driving, Wi-Fi internet, Internet of Things (IoT), energy-saving lighting, environmental intelligence, and other innovative features that streamline the smart-city transformation,” added Al Tayer.
“These innovative initiatives support DEWA’s effort to promote Dubai’s sustainable and comprehensive development, and the national efforts to increase reliance on clean energy, protect the environment and sustain our natural resources. They complement DEWA’s initiatives such as the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which is the largest single-site solar energy project in the world, Shams Dubai to install photovoltaic systems in buildings and connect them to DEWA’s grid, and DEWA’s smart initiatives. This is part of our efforts to achieve the Dubai Plan 2021 to make Dubai a smart, integrated, and connected city, and the preferred place to live, work, and visit, the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to generate 7% of Dubai's total power output from clean energy by 2020, 25% by 2030 and 75% by 2050, and our efforts to make Dubai the city with lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050, ensuring a sustainable future, for generations to come,” concluded Al Tayer.
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