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UAE will see more energy needs met through renewables

The UAE will steadily see more of its energy needs met through electricity generated by renewable means, an official has said.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Industry, and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa), said: "When it comes to green energy, there is a greater target to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and increase energy production through renewable means."
"Our target is to have 44 per cent of our energy through renewable means such as solar power, and six per cent through nuclear energy for 2030. Our hope is to have the first reactor up and running this year," he explained. "Once completed, we expect to have 25 per cent of the UAE's energy needs met through these means. Moving forward, we will continue to meet the country's growing energy needs through our relationship with different entities in Abu Dhabi."
Al Mazrouei was speaking on the sidelines of the fourth edition of Fewa's Excellence Awards. The special ceremony was held to support Fewa's vision of instilling the culture of excellence, creativity, and quality among employees.
Talking about the winners and the event, Al Mazrouei described the awards as a journey with the objective to transform the quality of Fewa's employees to the international level. "We don't want them to compete on the local or regional level, but to be able to compete with their international peers. We started this as a small internal competition and are very pleased with how it has grown. We have recorded a 30 per cent growth in participation for this year's edition."
"We are proud of our accomplishments in 2017. These include shifting all our services to mobile so that it is more convenient for our customers; and the conversion of our water filters to reduce water consumption levels by as much as 18-20 per cent. Our target is to do this around 63,000 homes. We have also made significant progress on our infrastructure in different emirates. We are also looking into more research and development through collaboration with different entities. Moving forward, innovation will continue to be an important sector for us as it falls in line with the vision of our wise leaders," he said.
Emiratisation is also one of Fewa's strategic priorities. The Authority seeks to adopt policies that provide a wide range of employment opportunities to UAE nationals. It also ensures the provision of appropriate training programs that contribute to their support and development; and equip them with the necessary qualifications for managerial, technical, and leadership positions. The policy has raised the rate of Emiratisation during 2017 in comparison to previous years and achieved a 100 per cent in leadership positions, 75.62 per cent in executive jobs and 82.73 per cent in supervisory positions. Emiratisation rates in engineering reached around 60.05 per cent, with 184 citizen engineers in 2017; 76 per cent of them female.
In line with the government's strategic focus to make the UAE one of the most innovative countries in the world, the Authority has established a team of a selected employees from various positions and units as ambassadors of innovation in their respective areas. The team works on numerous programs and initiatives aimed at achieving the strategic objective of instilling the culture of innovation in an institutional work environment.
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com