Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said it has joined hands with Dubai's national carrier Emirates for the successful installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels at the Emirates Engine Maintenance Centre in Dubai, UAE.

The project is part of the Shams Dubai initiative launched by Dewa earlier this year to help implement a long-term national Green Economy for Sustainable Development initiative.

The new project in Warsan will generate 1 Megawatt (MW), saving around 800 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. It aims to enhance the use of alternative energy and reduce carbon emissions, said the statement from the utility.

The newly-installed system includes 2,990 photovoltaic panels and will use solar power to generate electricity and meet the needs of the centre, it stated.

According to Dewa, the panels were installed on the rooftop of the Emirates Engine Maintenance Centre’s car park. Based on its capacity of 1 MW, the panels are expected to generate in excess of 1,884 MW-hours (MWh) of electricity every year.

On the project, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the managing director and chief executive, said: "We are pleased to be working with Emirates airline on this initiative, which saw the installation of PV panels at the Emirates Engine Maintenance Centre. The project is part of Dewa’s Shams Dubai initiative."

"Shams Dubai is an excellent economic choice for clients and government organisations because solar energy is clean, natural, cost effective, and unlimited. In the last few years, we have seen huge developments in solar technology,” noted Al Tayer.

"At Dewa, we work to diversify the energy mix to include clean and renewable energy," he added.

Waleed Salman, the executive VP (Strategy and Business Development), said: "Our partnership with Emirates is part of efforts to install photovoltaic panels on government buildings and schools, to produce clean energy locally, reduce electricity costs, contribute to the preservation of the environment, and guarantee a sustainable future for the emirate."

Adel Al Redha, the executive VP and chief operations officer at Emirates airline, said it was committed to building a sustainable future.

"We are proud to support this national initiative and work with Dewa on the Shams Dubai project. In addition to the successful installation of solar PV panels at maintenance centre in Dubai, across our company we have many active programmes to reduce our emissions and environmental impact, as outlined in our annual environmental report," stated Al Redha.

"Within the Emirates Engine Maintenance Centre, we intend to continue improving our environmental efficiency. We already have ongoing recycling programmes in place, and we plan to go paperless in the near future," he added.-TradeArabia News Service