Nestlé inaugurates UAE’s largest ground-mounted private solar plant
Nestlé Middle East announced the launch of the largest ground-mounted private solar plant in UAE at its Al Maha factory in Dubai.
The site at Al Maha will house 20,000 photovoltaic (PV) panels, generating 7.2 GWh of electricity per year. That will supply 85% of the Al Maha factory’s annual electricity consumption and eliminate 4.5 million kilograms of CO2 per year.
In total, nearly 28,000 PV panels are being installed at the three manufacturing sites of Nestlé in Dubai. The systems will generate a total of 10 GWh of electricity per year. This will eliminate at least six million kilograms of CO2 emissions annually, the equivalent of annual emissions from 1,500 passenger cars or the energy consumption of 800 homes.
The solar plant is part of DEWA’s Shams initiative which encourages building owners to install PV panels and connect them to DEWA’s grid.
The inauguration was attended by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director & Chief Execu-tive Officer of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), HE Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman-Dubai Aviation City Corporation & Dubai South, HE Massimo Baggi, Ambassador of Switzerland to the UAE and Bahrain, Dr. Franco Vigliotti, Project Head and Dean of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) in the Middle East, Marco Settembri, Executive Vice President Nestlé S.A. and CEO Zone Europe, Middle East & North Africa, and Yves Manghardt, Nestlé Middle East Chair-man and CEO.
Last week, Nestlé announced its ambition to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This embraces the most ambitious aim of the Paris Agreement, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. One of the key targets is to use 100% renewable electricity in all Nestlé factories, warehouses, logistics and offices.
Source: Press Release by Nestlé Middle East. Photo Credit: © Nestlé Middle East.
