Don’t use heavy appliances between 12-6 pm: Dewa

By Eudore R. Chand

DUBAI 19 July 2019: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), has urged customers to schedule the use of appliances that consume a lot of energy away from load-peak hours of 12-6 pm.

This is part of the annual ‘Let’s Make This Summer Green’ campaign.

The authority urges customers to use appliances such as electric water heaters, electric ovens, irons, and washing machines, among others to the morning or evening as much as possible. High energy demand during summer months, especially during peak-load hours, leads to generating more energy, which means using more fuel. This in turn, releases more carbon emissions.

“Dewa adopts an integrated strategy to raise awareness about the importance of rationalising consumption and involving all consumers in the efforts to protect the environment, conserve natural resources, and support sustainable development in Dubai,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO.

By rationalising the consumption of electricity, water, and natural resources, sustainability is ensured for generations to come, he explained, adding that the authority’s strategies encourage community members to adopt a sustainable lifestyle in electricity and water consumption. These lifestyle patterns will then help “achieve the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to make Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world; the Carbon Abatement Strategy to reduce carbon emissions by 16 percent by 2021; and the Demand Side Management Strategy to reduce energy and water use by 30 per cent by 2030,” Al Tayer noted.

“Through these initiatives and campaigns, we aim to make the sensible use of electricity and water a daily practice among community members. Launching the annual Peak Load campaign is part of our ongoing efforts to engage customers and community members in conservation efforts through a responsible and conscious lifestyle to ensure the sustainability of natural resources for generations to come,” added Al Tayer.

Dewa’s rationalisation programmes and initiatives over the past ten years achieved significant savings in the consumption of electricity and water within the target groups. Between 2009 and 2018, customers saved over two terawatt-hours (TW/h) of electricity and 7.4 billion gallons of water in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, in addition to educational institutions, governmental, and semi-governmental entities. These savings contributed to the reduction of one million tonnes of carbon emissions.