Energy Of The Future

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Initially opening its doors for business in 2013, Etihad Esco had just one vision in mind – to make Dubai one of the most sustainable cities in the world by implementing and regulating the energy service industry and creating management strategies in order to achieve 30% energy savings by 2030.

It has been hugely successful in its aims too, achieving some staggering figures in the past years:

• Energy savings worth AED40 million
• Retrofitting of more than 1845 buildings
• Achieved 71.9 Gigawatt Hours (GWH) in electricity savings through building retrofit programmes

Mr Ali Al Jassim, CEO of Etihad Energy Services, explains: “On a global scale, achieving 30% energy savings by 2030 will set a benchmark for the Middle East region, as well as for the world. But we just don’t want to stop there, we want to be more aggressive for energy conservation and set an example for sustainability beyond expectations and limits.

“Although Etihad ESCO already has a target of 30% energy reduction by 2030, that’s not the only target we want to achieve. We want to bring awareness and knowledge to the society, and we are working on a number of DSM programmes that will help us achieve our goals, including building retrofits, district cooling, and Shams Dubai.”

Apart from this, Etihad ESCO is conducting several awareness campaigns online, and is conducting and participating in several events, including seminars on retrofitting where users from different industries come and interact with leading experts in the field.

Etihad has been a regular participant in WETEX, WFES, and many other such events, which allows users to see the various achievements and future trends in the energy industry.

Pioneering Projects

At the present, Etihad is working on a number of noteworthy projects, including Dubai Golf, an iconic development that is hugely important within the sports industry. On this project, Etihad has implemented several energy conservation measures, from installing energy efficient HVAC equipment to demand-based control of lighting and air-conditioning. Naturally, as golf courses use a lot of water, and sometimes there is water leakage which is not detected, considering this Etihad has installed a water leakage detection system, which eliminates water loss. Lighting has also been replaced with efficient lights.

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On the Enoc station pilot project, Etihad replaced inefficient lights with energy efficient lights, which are controlled based on requirement and day lighting, leading to save more energy. Also, demand-based control is implemented on air-conditioning to achieve savings further. Solar PV panels have been installed on the roof to generate green energy and offset electricity requirement from grid. With Enoc stations’ facilities being of a similar kind and similar usage, all these energy conservation measures can be replicated and implemented across all other stations.

A major chunk of projects implemented by Etihad is traditionally focused on commercial buildings, but from 2018 it has been engaged in a diverse range of developments, from school and universities to hotels, hospitals, and homes. It is committed to spreading energy conservation awareness to every industry.

For Al WASL Etihad retrofitted 243 buildings of mixed use residential and commercial. JAFZA labor Accommodation were typical accommodation buildings which had very high water consumption, which has reduced drastically after the retrofit.

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Green and Sustainable

The concept of the ‘green economy’ is finally taking hold in the UAE, with Ali Al Jassim commenting: “Yes, we feel that the UAE is going in the right direction as regards to a green economy, fulfilling all of the criteria required. With all the essential expertise and government support, high awareness across both corporate bodies and individuals has set the path for energy conservation and sustainability. In fact, nowadays people come to us and ask how can we make our homes and day-to-day operations more energy efficient.”

Another important thing that has become a game changer in ESCO industry is ‘Green Funds’, as it helps projects to be fully financed.With full financing and easy repayments, more and more organisations are willing and interested in implementing energy conservation projects. Solar energy, for instance, being easily and abundantly available in this part of the world, in tandem with the declining cost of solar PV panels and full financing of projects through green funds, has become very attractive.

For the Good of Society

As Etihad ESCO is a 100% Dubai Government owned company, unlike private entities it
is not focused on a profit- based working model. Instead, its priority is to provide the best possible energy services to customers, helping them to conserve energy and become more profitable through sustainability.

Quality services, added value, and transparency are key points through which Etihad ESCO maintains customer rapport.

It is no surprise, that business is good at the present time, with Ali Al Jassim saying: “Looking at current trends, it is clear that most buildings, communities, and organisations will become 20% more energy efficient than they are today in upcoming years. Also, most of Dubai Government’s entities will source at least 10% of its energy demand from renewable energy systems. Mai Dubai is a classic example of this, having implemented an 18 MWP solar project, which will cater most of its utility and operations load.”

A Family Affair

With no particular challenges on the horizon, everyone with Etihad ESCO is confident of a sustainable and better future, with the entire team being led by Mr. Ali Al Jassim, who cares not only about results, but also employees and communities. “When it comes to my leadership style, I believe in creating an environment where my employees feel welcome and view their co-workers as family. Everyone brings their own individual professional skills to the company, but at the end of the day our operations run as a team which plans, and executes a project to deliver a quality service to the client. It is this work-family concept that I believe increases the productivity and output of Etihad ESCO,” he says.

“We are an organisation with vision and goals for sustainability, a green future, and a better tomorrow. We are working for society, which keeps us motivated and pushes us to work harder than yesterday. And last, but not the least, we are a family not a business entity, which keeps all of us together,” Ali Al Jassim concludes.

ETIHAD ENERGY SERVICES COMPANY (ETIHAD ESCO)
P.O. BOX 37578
DUBAI
UAE
T: +971 4 3220383
E: INFO@ETIHADESCO.AE
W: WWW.ETIHADESCO.AE