Etihad ESCO’s Building Retrofit Programme Saves Energy Worth Over AED 34 Million

Etihad ESCO’s retrofit projects have successfully saved 54GHW of energy in 2016, through five major projects, implemented for DEWA, JAFZA, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Mohammed Bin Rashid Housing Establishment (MRHE), which equates to AED 34 Million in monetary terms.

The energy service provider said that it will be working towards achieving the goals of Demand Side Management Strategy (DSM Strategy) and Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy (DIES), by undertaking a number of projects and activities in 2017 as well.  DSM Strategy and Dubai's electricity aims to reduce energy consumption by 30% by 2030.

Commenting on the energy savings achieved, Mr. Ali Al Jassim, CEO of Etihad ESCO said, “As of today, we are pleased to announce that 2016 saw positive growth for ESCOs in Dubai. Most of our projects and programmes enabled a considerable amount of energy savings while advancing into more extensive phases of implementation. We have successfully completed retrofitting of 2,178 buildings. In general, buildings comprise a huge amount of the total consumption in Dubai, and thus make an important component in the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy and Demand Side Management Strategy 2030.”

He added that in line with its objective to build a platform and facilitate the ESCO market in the Emirate, Etihad ESCO will continue to accredit ESCOs to participate in ESCO tenders. The organisation is also working closely with accredited ESCOs in the UAE to bring in best practices into the energy sector.

At a recent workshop organised by Philips Lighting, which discussed both short and long term expectations of Etihad ESCO, measurable KPIs were identified as one of the key criteria. “We are also working on an updated standard contract which will become an integral part of the ESCO accreditation process in 2017. We encourage ESCOs to keep developing and improving themselves to benefit from the rapidly increasing energy retrofit market,” Al Jassim said.

Some of the important future projects by Etihad ESCO will include Energy Management Service (EMS) works for the Dubai Civil Defence, Hatta solar project, Dubai International Airport (Phase 2), and Drydocks (Phase 2). It will also start work on the tender for its first private sector contract with Seven Tides, a leading luxury property developer in the UAE, in 2017.