Dubai expects 25 per cent of its power generation would come from solar energy in just 15 years, with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park playing a major role. Courtesy Dewa
Dubai expects 25 per cent of its power generation would come from solar energy in just 15 years, with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park playing a major role. Courtesy Dewa
Dubai expects 25 per cent of its power generation would come from solar energy in just 15 years, with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park playing a major role. Courtesy Dewa
Dubai expects 25 per cent of its power generation would come from solar energy in just 15 years, with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park playing a major role. Courtesy Dewa

Business

Dewa picks leading contenders for Dubai solar park project

Only 18 companies remain in the fray for the prequalification round from the 95 that were interested in bidding for the third phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park.

LeAnne Graves

December 01, 2015

  • English
  • Arabic

Dewa has whittled down the list of companies to build the third phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park.

Only 18 companies remain in the fray for the prequalification round from the 95 that were interested in bidding for the 800 megawatts, sources said.

“They want to make sure that whomever enters, that they’re up to par. The criteria was very high and stringent, so not everyone is qualified,” the source said.

The solar park was slated to reach 3,000MW of total capacity by 2030, but the Dubai Government announced on Sunday that it would increase it to 5,000MW.

One confirmed bidder is Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Energy and Environmental Services. “[ALJ] is based in Dubai and is continuously growing its local capabilities to support our participation in the renewable energy programmes in the region and beyond,” said Roberto de Diego Arozamena, the chief executive of ALJ Energy and Environmental Services.

Dubai expects 25 per cent of its power generation from solar energy in just 15 years, with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park playing a major role.

The emirate made headlines in January when it awarded the bid to a consortium comprising Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and the Spanish industrial group TSK, which at the time offered the world’s cheapest solar energy for the second phase totalling 200MW.

Mohamed El Farnawany, the director for strategic management and executive direction at Abu Dhabi's International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) said that Dubai proved that solar was competitive to fossil fuels. However, he said renewables was still relatively new in the UAE and across the region, so proactive steps were necessary to accelerate its deployment.

Irena has been working with Dewa to look at methods to speed up development of solar projects, including residential applications. “It is initiatives like this that will help put Dubai on the path of developing a viable and sustainable energy infrastructure,” Mr El Farnawany said.

The Middle East Solar Industry Association expects that the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 will result in US$13.6 billion in solar energy investment.​

lgraves@thenational.ae

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While you're here
While you're here

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

While you're here
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Saturday

Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm kick-off UAE)

Bayer Leverkusen v Schalke (5.30pm)

Wolfsburg v Cologne (5.30pm)

Mainz v Arminia Bielefeld (5.30pm)

Augsburg v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)

RB Leipzig v Bayern Munich (8.30pm)

Borussia Monchengladbach v Freiburg (10.30pm)

Sunday

VfB Stuttgart v Werder Bremen  (5.30pm)

Union Berlin v Hertha Berlin (8pm)

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