Surplus Shams Dubai power exported to Dewa's grid

Shams Dubai supports the Smart Dubai initiative. - Supplied photo

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, or Dewa, continues its efforts to raise awareness among customers about its Shams Dubai smart initiative to encourage building owners to install photovoltaic solar panels to generate electricity form solar power.
The electricity is used on-site and the surplus is exported to the Dewa's grid; an offset between exported and imported electricity units is conducted and the customer account is settled based on this offset.
Shams Dubai supports the Smart Dubai initiative put forth by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world.
"The Dewa not only provides electricity and water services to its customers with the highest levels of efficiency, reliability and excellence, but places considerable attention to environmental sustainability and diversification of the energy mix to include renewable and clean energy," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of the Dewa.
The Dewa has outlined easy steps to install photovoltaic systems and connect it to its grid. The installation process starts with the customer contacting one of the consultants or contractors accredited by the Dewa to study the possibility of installing the solar power system and suggest the best solution.
The consultant or contractor then obtains the necessary approvals from the Dewa. These include an NOC for installing solar energy system and connecting it to the power network, and approval for the solar system design that meets all the requirements.
Contractors praise procedures
"We have received a large number of enquiries for residential homes, farms and villas. Though the majority of the projects are still under construction, the number of enquiries are growing on a daily basis. Residential enquiries are in between 5kWp and 20kWp while commercial enquiries are between 200 and 500kWp," said Moataz El Wardani, CEO and founder of Shams Energy Solutions, an enrolled contractors to install PV systems.
"Shams Dubai... will definitely become the gold standard for the entire GCC and beyond. The Dewa's professional approach by establishing an entire set of processes, safety and quality requirements, technical specifications, pre-qualifications of vendors followed by proactive training and certification of engineers and their continuous process improvement is unprecedented in the region," said Lakshmi Narayan, a Dewa-certified PV solar expert.
"We are presently executing some solar projects like a 1MW solar car park and a few rooftop systems under the Shams Dubai initiative. We welcome this initiative from the Dewa as we believe it will play a key role in enhancing the emirate's solar installations," said Ashok Ramakrishna, business head of projects and solar energy at Bhatia Brothers.
- business@khaleejtimes.com