Dubai, Business News : As part of the daily symbolic ceremony by prominent people and partners, HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), participated in the opening ceremony of the Expo 2020 Dubai Gate that leads to the Sustainability District, which welcomes delegations from 192 countries along with millions of visitors.
The inauguration was also attended by Waleed bin Salman, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Excellence at DEWA; Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA; and Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Government Communications at DEWA.
Also in attendance were university students participating in the second Solar Decathlon Middle East (SDME), organised by DEWA at the SDME Village at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, as part of a partnership between DEWA, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, and US Department of Energy.
Al Tayer pointed out that DEWA supports the Expo 2020 Dubai objectives to promote innovation and sustainability, as the core values of the global event, and an essential element of DEWA’s vision to become a world-leading sustainable and innovative organisation, and as the Official Sustainable Energy Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai.
“We continuously work to realise the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Expo 2020 Dubai a global platform for developing innovative sustainable technologies and presenting them to millions of visitors from around the world; thus, enhancing efforts to achieve a more sustainable future, and making Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world. DEWA shares similar values with Expo 2020 Dubai, and we work hand in hand to achieve the directives of the wise leadership to host the best and most sustainable world Expo in Dubai, and minimise our carbon footprint,” explained Al Tayer.
“The SDME objectives are in line with the Expo 2020 Dubai central theme in ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, and its three sub-themes: ‘Sustainability’, ‘Mobility’ and ‘Opportunities’. The competition offers youth an ideal opportunity to contribute to sustainable development efforts by designing, building, and operating cost-effective and energy-efficient solar-powered homes, focusing on protecting the environment, taking into consideration the region’s climatic conditions. This supports innovative solutions and global efforts to mitigate climate change and promote the shift towards a more sustainable lifestyle, as we recognise that the youth are the driving force for building a brighter and more sustainable future,” added Al Tayer.
The DEWA pavilion in the Sustainability District at Expo 2020 Dubai features an SDME-dedicated stand, which displays models presented by the teams participating in the second edition of the competition, as well as the winning house by the FutureHAUS team at Virginia Tech University, which placed first at SDME 2018, organised by DEWA for the first time in the MENA region.
The SDME village is open to the public, between November 11-25, 2021. The second SDME has attracted 8 teams from 12 universities, including: Team KU of Khalifa University; Team Sharjah of University of Sharjah; Team Desert Phoenix of University of Louisville, Higher Colleges of Technology, American University in Dubai, and American University in Sharjah; Team HARMONY of The British University in Dubai; Team ESTEEM of Heriot-Watt University, UK, and Heriot-Watt University, Dubai; Team TAWAZUN of Manipal Academy of Higher Education Dubai Campus; Team Go Smart of University of Bahrain; and Team SCUTxCCSIC of South China University of Technology. For more information on the competition, please visit www.solardecathlonme.com.
