UAE Launches National Water And Energy Demand Management Programme

Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, attended on Wednesday the launch of the National Water and Energy Demand Management Programme, which was approved by the Federal Cabinet to enhance the efficiency of the three most energy-consuming sectors by 40 percent.

Rolled out in cooperation with strategic partners and stakeholders of the federal and local governments and the private sector, the programme targets 40 percent efficiency of the three most energy-consuming sectors in the UAE: transport, industry and construction. The programme will adopt the best international standards in the nation's largest water and energy efficiency drive.

The programme includes three main pillars: Energy, water and consumption rationalisation.

Several initiatives will be launched to reduce energy consumption and realise the following targets by 2050: reduce energy demand by 40 percent; increase the renewable energy's contribution to the energy mix to 50 percent and expand water reuse by 95 percent.

Dubai Clean Energy Strategy aims to produce 75 percent of its energy requirements from clean sources by 2050. The strategy also aims to make Dubai a global centre of clean energy and green economy. It consists of five main pillars: infrastructure, legislation, funding, building capacities and skills, and environment-friendly energy mix.

Dubai Demand Side Management Strategy 2030 aims to reduce the demand for electricity and water by 30 percent by 2030.

The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) said Dubai achieved savings of 11.8 percent in electricity and 7.9 percent in water consumption in 2020.

The savings indicated 5.4 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity and 9.9 billion imperial gallons of water, which is equivalent to reducing 11.5 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions or taking 1.2 million vehicles out of Dubai roads for two years.

The Abu Dhabi Demand Side Management and Energy Rationalisation Strategy (DSM) 2030 aims to reduce electricity consumption by 22 percent and water consumption by 32 percent by 2030.

The programme combines all federal and local stakeholders in the UAE to realise the objectives of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 and UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 to ensure security of supply in energy and water sectors through direct-impact long, medium and short term plans.