Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 25 October 2017:  Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, Masdar, was honoured this week with two Emirates Energy Awards during the 4th annual World Green Economy Summit (WGES), held in conjunction with the 19th annual Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) in Dubai.

 

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Supreme Council of Energy, presented the team behind Masdar’s Renewable Energy Desalination Programme with an Emirates Energy Award in the Research and Development category, while Masdar’s joint venture with ADNOC, the Al Reyadah CCUS project, was recognised in the Large Project category.

 

Masdar also enjoyed a strong representation throughout WGES as its experts discussed issues such as clean-tech innovation; opportunities and challenges for the development of smart cities; and the next stage of urban evolution. 

 

Bader Al Lamki, Executive Director, Clean Energy, Masdar, said: “As this year’s WETEX comes to a close, we are proud to see Masdar being recognised for its contribution to the renewable energy sector, driving us closer to achieving the UAE’s 2050 goals. We look forward to continuing our strategic partnership with WETEX in the coming years and congratulate our strategic partner, DEWA, on the delivery of an outstanding event.”

 

Al Lamki continued: “Thanks to our visionary leadership and through platforms such as WETEX and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the UAE is catalysing opportunities for governments and businesses to work together to drive the growth of renewable energy, clean technologies and water sustainability solutions across the world.” 

 

Delegates at the WGES heard from senior Masdar executives including Yousef Baselaib, Executive Director, Sustainable Real Estate; Yousif Al Ali, Director, Business Growth, Clean Energy; and Steve Severance, Head of Programme Management and Marketing, Sustainable Real Estate.

 

In addition, Mohammad Abdelqader El Ramahi, Director, Asset Management & Technical Services, Clean Energy, led a seminar on renewable energy desalination options in the UAE. El Ramahi was a part of the team who received the R&D award for the Renewable Energy Desalination Programme, and his seminar shed light on the programme, its objectives and key takeaways, as well as the opportunities ahead in water desalination for the UAE.

 

Masdar’s Renewable Energy Desalination Programme was also among the projects being showcased at the company’s exhibition stand. The programme’s cutting-edge facility in Ghantoot was launched in 2013 to research and develop energy-efficient, cost-competitive desalination technologies that are suitable to be powered by renewable energy. The long-term goal is to implement renewable energy-powered desalination plants in the UAE, as well as the wider MENA region, and to have a commercial scale facility operating by 2020.

 

Throughout WETEX, Masdar showcased its growing clean energy portfolio in the UAE, including: the 800MW third phase of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai, led by DEWA; Masdar’s joint venture with Bee’ah, the Emirates Waste to Energy Company (EWEC), which is developing the first waste-to-energy plant in the region; and its cutting-edge seawater desalination pilot programme in Ghantoot.

 

To date, Masdar has more than 2.8 gigawatts (GW) of projects in operation or under development globally. Its international portfolio incorporates projects in more than 20 countries, including the 30MW Hywind Scotland, which was inaugurated last week to become the world’s first commercial-scale floating wind farm. 

 

The close of WETEX (Wednesday 25 October) also marked 80 days until the start of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which runs from January 13-20, 2018. Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week brings together world leaders, policy makers, thought leaders, experts, business leaders and academics to discuss, debate, and ultimately address the energy and sustainability challenges of the future.