More jobs and solar-powered villas to crop up in UAE's green economy

Dubai to fit out 5,000 occupied villas with solar rooftops

"Solar is no longer a taboo, its an appliance: you buy your fridge, stove, you buy you solar kit, so if you move villas, you get your appliance with you," said Ivano Iannelli. Pawan Singh / The NationShow more

The UAE's initiatives to develop a green economy will create 277,000 jobs in the country in fields related to solar, water, energy and waste reduction activities by 2030, according to Dubai Carbon's Centre of Excellence's chief executive.

For each dollar spent on renewable energy, the green gross domestic product multiplies by seven times, Ivano Iannelli said on Wednesday on the sidelines of a State of Green Economy report launch. Dubai Carbon, which offers advisory services as well as monitors the levels of carbon emissions in the emirate, is owned by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Emirates National Oil Company, Dubal Holding and Empower.

"We calculated that there's a pool of 277,000 jobs that will be implemented by 2030," he said. "These are jobs required specifically through the implementation of the country's green initiatives. It's all related to green practices, green infrastructure on the roads, charging points for electrical vehicles, anything which has green component."

Dubai is set to exceed its target of generating seven per cent of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2020 and will hit eight per cent next year through the implementation of green initiatives such as solar-powered villas, according to Dewa chief executive Saeed Al Tayer.

Dubai is fitting 5,000 villas out of the 44,000 built-up villas in the emirate with solar panels as it pursues a target for 10 per cent penetration of solar rooftops in occupied villas by 2020, Mr Iannelli said.

"Solar is no longer a taboo, its an appliance: you buy your fridge,  stove, you buy you solar kit, so if you move villas, you get your appliance with you, so it’s been made to fit the nomadic culture of the country," he said.

Last year, Dubai installed solar kits on 1,200 villas in Hatta that were commissioned in November with the aim of reducing 80 per cent of electricity consumption.

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The initiatives are in line with the Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's 50-Year Charter for the development of the emirate, which outlines plans for the improvement of citizens and residents' lives.

One of the nine articles of the charter states that at least a tenth of Dubai homes will be self-sufficient in terms of water, food and energy through the creation of a new economic sector and in the hopes of helping to preserve the environment.

The villas are part of a project by Dewa and Etihad Esco, the Dubai-based energy efficiency regulator, in consultation with the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence.

Etihad Esco is seeking to execute multibillion dollar worth of projects that will generate Dh500 million worth of energy savings from retrofitting and solar rooftop deployment by 2030, it said last year.